ALABAMA, USA — It's not just a struggle for teens...
"We're seeing an increase in older adults, especially women over 50," Lauren Roberts, a licensed professional counselor, said.
Lauren Roberts is talking about eating disorders, as more adults are struggling with disordered eating, often silently. Data shows at least 30 million people struggle with eating disorders in the U.S., and disordered eating is becoming more and more common among adults..
"A lot of times because it is ascribed to teens only, there's a stigma placed on it that prevents adults from getting help. They believe it's just a teen affliction when it is afflicting so many adults," Roberts said.
According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 13-percent of women older than age 50 engage in some kind of disordered eating behavior. Roberts, who works with people of all ages who struggle with eating disorders, says life stressors often cause them in older adults.
"It can be divorce, becoming a grandparent, your body changing and fat distributing differently among your body. And all of these stressors create more fear about weight gain and more wanting to control how you are gaining weight," Roberts said.
Robert says some of the most common types of eating disorders she sees in adults is binge eating and calorie restriction.
"What's most important is awareness among adults. First we have to be aware that there is a problem among adults and it's increasing. The more we are aware of that, the more we can start working toward getting treatment," she said.
And adults have options, there's individual treatment, group treatment and even art therapy, which Roberts says can be very helpful with body image.
"When you're doing art, you're not thinking about your body. You're not obsessing about your body. So learning those mindful skills can include art-- there's other mindful skills-- to help you when you are feeling like obsessing about your weight or you're obsessing about your body -- how to distract your mind and use self calming or mindfulness skills," she said.
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