Eating Disorders Don’t Have an Age Limit

By: Jennifer Rollin, LCSW-C, Therapist & Founder of The Eating Disorder Center

If you’re an adult struggling with an eating disorder, you might find yourself downplaying what you’re going through.

Maybe you’re going to work. Maybe you’re taking care of your kids. Maybe from the outside, your life looks “together.” And because of that, it can feel hard to justify reaching out for eating disorder treatment.

You might tell yourself:
“I should be able to handle this.”
“Other people have it worse.”
“I don’t look like I have an eating disorder.”
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I hear this all the time in my work as an eating disorder therapist. And I want to gently challenge it, because this belief is one of the biggest things that keeps people stuck.

Eating disorders don’t have an age limit

There is a common misconception that eating disorders mostly affect teenagers or young adults. But the reality is that many adults struggle silently for years or even decades.

Some people have had symptoms since adolescence that never fully resolved. Others develop disordered eating later in life during periods of change or stress.

This can include perimenopause and menopause, when hormonal shifts can impact mood, appetite, body composition, and how you feel in your body. For some people, weight redistribution or changes in metabolism can trigger increased body image distress or a return to old coping patterns.

It can also include becoming an empty nester. When children leave home, many parents are left with more space, which can bring up feelings of loss, identity shifts, or unresolved emotions that were easier to avoid when life was busier.

Add in career stress, relationship changes, caregiving for aging parents, or navigating your own health concerns, and it makes sense that food and body can become a place where people try to cope or regain a (false) sense of control.
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Struggling with food or your body as an adult is not a personal failure. It is a sign that you deserve support.

You can be successful on the outside and still be struggling

One of the reasons eating disorders in adults often go unnoticed is because people are still functioning.

You might be meeting deadlines, showing up for others, and managing responsibilities. But internally, you may feel consumed by thoughts about food, body image, or weight.

You might spend hours thinking about what you ate, what you will eat, or how to compensate. You might feel guilt after eating, anxiety around certain foods, or a constant sense of not feeling “good enough” in your body.

Functioning does not mean you are not struggling.
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From an ACT perspective, I often ask clients to consider whether their current patterns are moving them toward the life they want, or away from it. Even if you are managing on the surface, your world may be getting smaller.

“Not sick enough” is a trap

The idea that you need to be “sick enough” to deserve eating disorder treatment is incredibly common and incredibly harmful.

Research shows that less than 6 percent of people with eating disorders are considered medically underweight. That means most people struggling do not fit the stereotype.

Eating disorders are not defined by how someone looks. They are defined by the relationship someone has with food, their body, and the behaviors they use to cope.

If your thoughts feel obsessive, if your behaviors feel hard to stop, or if your relationship with food is causing distress, that is enough.
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Waiting until things get worse only makes recovery harder.

A DBT perspective on change

From a DBT lens, we talk about dialectics, or holding two truths at once.

You can be doing your best and still need support.
You can be functioning and still be struggling.
You can be navigating major life transitions and still deserve care.

DBT also emphasizes building skills to tolerate distress and regulate emotions. Many eating disorder behaviors serve as a way to cope with overwhelming feelings, whether those feelings are tied to hormonal changes, identity shifts, or life stress.

When you begin to develop alternative skills, you create more space to respond rather than react.
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You do not need to feel fully ready or convinced to begin this process. Willingness is enough.

What eating disorder recovery can look like for adults

Recovery is not about perfection. It is about creating a more flexible, peaceful relationship with food and your body.

For adults, this often includes:

• Learning to nourish your body consistently
• Reducing food rules and rigidity
• Processing life transitions like menopause, parenting changes, or relationship shifts
• Addressing underlying emotions and experiences
• Building coping skills that do not rely on eating disorder behaviors
• Reconnecting with values and what matters most to you

At our practice, we provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, Maryland, serving Bethesda, Potomac, Chevy Chase, Gaithersburg, and Silver Spring. We also offer virtual eating disorder treatment throughout Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Florida, and California.
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We use evidence based approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Exposure and Response Prevention to support meaningful, lasting change.

You don’t have to wait

If you’ve been telling yourself that it is “not that bad,” I want to invite you to pause and consider a different question.

What is it costing you to stay where you are?

Eating disorders often take up time, energy, and mental space. They can impact relationships, self worth, and your ability to fully engage in your life.

You are allowed to want more ease, more freedom, and more peace in your relationship with food and your body.
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Full recovery is possible. And you are worthy of support at any stage.

Schedule a FREE 15-minute consultation to explore how eating disorder therapy or recovery coaching can help you to find freedom.

🌟 Available in MD, VA, DC, PA, FL, and CA for eating disorder therapy
🌍 Offering recovery coaching worldwide

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Jennifer Rollin, MSW, LCSW-C (she/her), is an award-winning eating disorder therapist and the founder of The Eating Disorder Center, a specialized therapy practice for eating disorders and body image concerns. Jennifer uses ACT, CBT, and DBT to help clients find freedom from eating disorders and body image struggles.  Jennifer is recognized as a leading eating disorder expert and was named one of the top professionals in the field by a premier treatment center. She is the recipient of the Best of Bethesda Award for Best Individual Therapist (2025) and the Best of Rockville Award (2020–2024). She helps clients to live full, meaningful lives, beyond food and body image concerns.

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The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping children, teens, and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington, D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in Florida, Pennsylvania, and California. We provide eating disorder and EMDR trauma therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland and Virginia. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com