It’s not your daughter’s eating disorder. Anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating have long been associated with teenage girls but, there’s a rising trend in women in midlife seeking treatment.
48 -year-old Cathy Oskowiak doesn’t fit the stereotype of a teenage girl battling an eating disorder but, she’s one of the faces of a new trend in how some middle aged women are choosing to control their weight
” I was like, this was a teenage disorder, and that’s one of the reasons it prevented me from going into treatment right away, ” says Oskowiak
Cathy entered treatment for binge eating in 2010. Middle age, while many associate it with slowing down, can be one of the most stressful times in a woman’s life, making them vulnerable to eating disorders. Dr. Lindsay Breeden, is a residential clinical supervisor at the Renfrew Center in Philadelphia. She says the center has seen 42% increase in patients 35 years-old and older in its residential programs.
” Children going off to school, empty nests type of things, losing parents, losing youthful appearance, it’s one thing after another,” says Breeden
She says the pressures to stay young and thin are overwhelming women today.
” Women in this country and other countries are frantic to turn back the clock in a way that makes no sense and it isn’t good for anybody, ” says Breeden
Cathy says getting treatment was the best thing she could have done for herself. And suggests anyone suffering should seek treatment now, not later.
” I wish I had done this years ago my life is so so much better, ” says Oskowiak
If you or someone you know if suffering from an eating disorder here is information on treatment and The Refrew Center :