Why a hidden epidemic?
I ran across an article on The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt’s blog, about “Eating Disorders in Adult Women.” This topic is becoming increasingly popular in ED news… probably because more and more adult women are reaching out and asking for help. In fact, Renfrew says that a quarter of their patients are over 35. Anyway, the article interviews Dr. Trisha Gura, medical journalist and author of Lying in Weight: The Hidden Epidemic of Eating Disorders in Adult Women.
According to the article, adult women don’t seek treatment because:
- They feel like a loser for having an eating disorder
- They think that they should know better due to age
- Until recently, they were so embarrassed and/or didn’t realize they could have an eating disorder in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s.
- Society portrays the illness as a teenage vanity issue.
I’d like to add a couple of my own to this list….
- Their parents are not seeking treatment for them
- They are busy taking care of others (like children)… and spending that much time focusing on yourself seems selfish (or impossible).
- It’s much harder to take time out of life for treatment. Leaving work and a family that relies on you is much different than missing some classes in high school.
- If they have had these disordered habits for so many years, then their lifestyle seems “normal” to them… and less disturbing than had the ED began six months ago.
I’m not convinced that there is a change in the prevalence of older patients – there is little data on this. What we DO have are more treatment options marketing to that demographic. It could also be that generations of patients have suffered from inadequate treatment, or just were not treated although they had eating disorders all along.
I’m so glad you wrote “”Their parents are not seeking treatment for them.” That is probably the biggest difference between child and adult patients. I wish more parents knew they SHOULD and CAN. Too many parents are afraid, think the legalities are too complex, or more likely are told there is little they can do. The patient says he or she doesn’t want help, and society continues to think of that as a choice, not a symptom.
We have so far to go. But eating disorders at any age are still treatable – recovery, FULL recovery must be the goal for all patients.
Thank you for calling attention to Dr. Trisha Gura’s interview on the Center for Eating Disorder’s blog. You brought up some great points about why adult women do not seek help for eating disorders!
Today, Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 8:00 pm EDT, The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt is hosting a live chat with Dr. Trisha Gura in their forum. Participants will be able to chat one-on-one with Dr. Gura about any eating disorder related questions they may have. To participate, go to: http://www.eatingdisorder.org/forum/index.php
Adult women often have children/family situations that make it difficult to leave for the long periods of time recommended by hospitals and treatment programs … AND, those programs are very expensive, even with insurance, and I know that I am loathe to impose the cost of my illness (beyond the emotional and financial burdens already incurred) on my family. Moreover, I am more inclined to ante up for all the many ongoing and incidental expenses that come with raising children in favor of subsiziding my illness.
There is also guilt associated with “abandoning” the kids during formative years (and they’re all formative), and introducing additional stress in young peoples’ lives with your absence. Logistically, it is also difficult to find child-care/supervision (and a driver/chauffeur) to pick up all the tasks a parent-patient has responsibility for, especially if the spouse works full-time.
As an adult woman who has been an inpatiemt several times, I would also add that it’s difficult to adapt to the treatment milieu when you are accustomed to being on your own agenda, in charge, long out of school and dorms and settings where you do homework and live communally. Privacy and space are issues; familiarity of home and setting are more difficult than when I was younger; being paired with much-younger roommates; being monitored and treated by younger staff; feeling infantalized within the structure of programs; struggling to find relevance in groups not often geared toward the issues of older patients (in the many programs without age-based tracts … and we all know that patients tend to go wherever insurance allows/dictates).
I think I might have a million more, but those are some additional thoughts.