Nationwide, doctors and therapists who are affiliated with eating-disorders treatments programs have been noticing an age shift in those who come to them seeking help. Increasingly, inquiries and new clients are including a significant number of middle-aged adults looking for help for themselves rather than for their children. Some in their late 40’s and early 50’s are finding they’re relapsing after having overcome an eating disorder in their youth, while others are experiencing them for the first time.

Whatever the age of the sufferer, an eating disorder stems from feelings that one’s life is out of control and compulsive food management, such as anorexia or bulimia, offers the individual an illusion of emotional management. Many experts are now pointing to the anxieties commonly associated with midlife—e.g., marital discord, divorce, parenting strains, parental deaths, career difficulties, financial stress, empty-nest syndrome, fears associated with aging, attempts to look like those who are younger and naturally slimmer—as powerful catalysts for the onset of later-in-life eating disorders.

While the rise in midlife eating disorders is troubling, experts are somewhat encouraged by the growing numbers seeking professional help. Much more than those from previous generations, baby-boomers—precisely the demographic experiencing midlife just now—seem to be much more open to recognizing that when they have a problem it’s both acceptable and wise to get help. Counseling and psychotherapy can offer life-enhancing assistance with becoming more self-content, more self-confident, and more knowledgeable about how to devise healthy strategies for coping with midlife issues.