Pilots who have experienced eating disorders – anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and avoidant-restrictive food intake disorder, as well as related conditions including body dysmorphic disorder – often find the treatment and evaluation landscape very frustrating.

Eating disorder treatment is hard to find in general. As patients will attest, many providers don’t understand these conditions well, and they may fail to truly empathize with those who have suffered from them.

It is nearly impossible to find professionals who are experts in both, and who understand the unique implications for flight safety as well as the special strengths that many pilots bring to their recovery journey.

As far as we know, Dr. Nelsen at AeroPsychiatry is the only psychiatrist in the US who has specialized experience with eating disorders and also works with pilots.

Having spent substantial time working with both pediatric and adult eating disorder patients as a medical student and psychiatry resident, she is uniquely able to help pilots who have struggled with an eating disorder and need FAA evaluations and recommendations going forward.

She knows that successful remission of an eating disorder is highly individualized, and can draw from numerous resources, including psychotherapy, aviation-complaint medications, lifestyle strategies, nutrition experts, and other disciplines.