Tampa Chapter: Eating Disorders and Midlife

While society’s obsession with maintaining youth masks the reality of midlife eating disorders, mature adults navigate a silent crisis created by the intersection of aging, diet culture, and hormonal transitions related to menopause. These midlife transitions further complicate an environment where relevance and social status remain deeply tied to appearance, signaling a cultural shift that increasingly prioritizes appearance over underlying character.

Join Dr. Wendy Oliver-Pyatt as she explores how society’s shifting expectations of women as they age, coupled with its psycho-social pressure to stay “relevant” in all aspects of their lives, can cause women to turn to a variety of anti-aging interventions, including a strict adherence to a relentless diet culture. During this presentation, we will explore the bio-psycho-social manifestations of aging, and examine the cultural context of aging women in U.S. society versus other cultures historically over time. Ultimately, we will learn about the unique steps that mature women can take to heal while navigating midlife and eating disorder recovery.