Eating disorders

[zebu]

Is it a sin to have an eating disorder? If so, why?

[Akathist]

Anything that distracts us from God and misses the mark of virtue is a sin. If someone has an eating disorder, they need to get treatment for it. There are often psychological reasons for this problem and in that manner, this is an illness. It is not a sin to have an illness, but it is a sin to not take care of the illness and to try to overcome it through proper medical care, prayer, the sacrements, and lots of work at self control when temptation comes.

This can be a hard cross to carry. But we are all commandd to carry our crosses. And we all have some form of cross to bear.

(Now this is just my personal opinion which is heavily influenced by my college training, and experience helping ohters and what I still learn about ED's from my work in the Recovery area of CF.)

[kamikat]

XR put it very well. It is our cross in life to overcome the ED, just like other temptations. Some temptations can be overcome without outside professional help, some can not. Alchoholism and drug addiction are temptations also, but these can not be overcome without outside help, either. BTW, I struggled with an ED for over 15 years, but made little to no progress other than going from one ED to another until I came to the Orthodox Church. Other churches teach that ED is just an illness and I should just pray for recovery, that I didn't really need to work at fighting it. When I came to Orthodoxy, I learned that needed to get off my behind and get working on it.

[icxn]

Is it a sin to have an eating disorder? If so, why?
Is that a euphemism for gluttony?

[zebu]

Is that a euphemism for gluttony?
No, quite the opposite. The two main eating disorders are anorexia and bulemia. Basically, anorexics starve themselves and bulemics eat but then force themselves to throw it all up. Both are actual diseases that are very dangerous to one's health.

[kamikat]

Yes, they might be called gluttony because both anorexics and bulimics focus completely on food. However, at some point, when the patient becomes very ill and dramatically below normal body weight, there is a change in the brain chemistry. There is also some evidence that people with eating disorders have similar brain chemistry to people with OCD. The brain sort of misfires and gets stuck on certain thoughts. These thoughts become an obsession. How much of this is sin and how much of it is illness due to brain chemistry is still a touchy subject. Anorexics usually become so because they don't know how to handle stress. Often they will say that their life is so out of control, what they put in their mouths is the only thing they can control. It's not about weight, it's about control. With bulimics, it's not that they are eating to satisfy hunger, they are self-medicating, then the act of purging will also purge stress or emotions. The act of purge is cathartic. It's not that they are purging because they ate too much.

[eoe]

I would say that an ED is not a sin per se but rather is the manifestation of passions (or a specific combination of passions). I would also argue that it might not be food that is the main passion involved but pride, vainglory and the desire to be physically attractive. Together these result in both a distorted body image as well as an overwhelming desire to change in order to look "good". Because the body image is distorted it is never seen as being right, pride feeds the craving to look good and change the body. It becomes a cycle.

Problems with food would normally show up as lust and sensuality.

Then again... I know nothing and am the last person anyone should listen to.

[kamikat]

ED's usually have very little to do with looks and wanting to look good. Many anorexics grow up in a situation where they are constantly told that they aren't good enough, so they withhold food from themselves as punishment. They begin to think they aren't worthy of food. Certainly, some anorexics start out as just wanting to lose weight, but many normal people go on diets without sucumbing to anorexia. It's just like how some people can drink socially, yet some people become alcoholics. We shouldn't jump to conclusions about EDs. I've said it before in the thread about TV shows and movies. Eating disorders are a manifestation of a person's mental illness, just as those movies glorify murder and torture that are manifestations of a person's mental illness or pshycosis.

[Xpycoctomos]

Zebu... if this is you or a friend, PLEASE taolk to someone. This is not something to "work on" alone. People very close to me suffer from this illness. It is destructive and SOOOO strong. There are confindential ways to work through this, especially if it is you (as you are 18) or if your friend is 18 or over. At college there is usually free help as well. If not, a local Community Mental Health can direct on to real help (often free since this is so common). Please tell your friend to take this seriously.

God bless you,

John

[OnTheWay]

No, quite the opposite. The two main eating disorders are anorexia and bulemia. Basically, anorexics starve themselves and bulemics eat but then force themselves to throw it all up. Both are actual diseases that are very dangerous to one's health.

And people develop those diseases because of vanity, so yes that is certainly a sinful behavior. On the flip side, people that over eat equally have eating disorders and you're incorrect about which are the most common. Over eating disorders are more common, however, the two you mention are more dangerous in the short term to health and life so they tend to get more attention.

[Xpycoctomos]

OTW:

It's unfortunately much more complicated and devasting than a bad case of vanity. I'm not saying vanity has absolutely nothing to do with it (it may be the catalyst... but not the motor)... but it is a very miniscule part of it in the broader understanding of this sad illness.

Vanity is a choice. The feelings these girls (and a lot of guys) experience are not really their choice. They just constantly feel worthless... and oftentimes it comes out of a life or a TIME in their life when everything seems out of their control (puberty) and THIS is one thing they find that they CAN control.

If only it were about vanity... this illness would be so much easier to deal with.

I'm not trying to tell you off or put you in your place. I thought exactly what you did before this issue hit close to home through some friends of mine. It's devastating, AMAZINGLY complex and can seem completely hopeless at times depending on how severe the case.

Our culture sucks.

John

PS: I am sure that over eating is more common... but the numbers of anorexia and bulemia must be very deflated because it is so easily covered up. I have some students that I wonder about. It's just so hard to tell though because they wear sweaters and baggy clothes so often. I don't know if that's just how they dress or if they are covering up something. Anyhow, you would be (or perhaps already are) shocked at how many girls (that you personally know or have known!) suffer from this in one degree or another.

[Akathist]

And people develop those diseases because of vanity, so yes that is certainly a sinful behavior. On the flip side, people that over eat equally have eating disorders and you're incorrect about which are the most common. Over eating disorders are more common, however, the two you mention are more dangerous in the short term to health and life so they tend to get more attention.

OTW, Over eating is NOT an eating disorder!

If you look in the DSM-IVR you will see that it is not even listed in that category.

http://allpsych.com/disorders/eating/index.html

http://www.psychologynet.org/codes.html

I use my own book at home not an on line version but the Eating Disorder NOS is not supposed to be used for over eating, but could include binge eating. Binge eating needs to be more than over eating, it needs to be something like eating six or seven meals worth of food in one sitting, not just eating a double portion, or choosing high calorie foods.

What I can agree with you is that pride is a big problem for anyone with a medical problem who is refusing to get treatment for it. The disorder itself is not a sin however. But there could be sins related to avoiding recovery from the disorder.

Just like it is not a sin to have diabetis, but it is a sin to refuse treatment for it.

[Veritas_et_Puritas]

And people develop those diseases because of vanity, so yes that is certainly a sinful behavior.

It is not about vanity. It is about control. Have you read Kamikat's post? It explains the mentality well. Girls who go on crash diets to be thin are often in a different category than individuals who develop anorexia.

[cobweb]

I am a binge eater. I was told as a teen that the doctor was pretty sure that I had an eating disorder... although he wasn't sure which one.

I used to go through long binge/fast cycles when I was thin. Now I just binge. I have gained at least 130 lbs in the last decade.

I do consider it a sin and a very difficult one to control. Right now I'm not doing so well with it.

[Xpycoctomos]

.

[cobweb]

:scratch:

[Xpycoctomos]

oops... sorry, I misread the last sentence. I thought you said that you are doing so well.

I'm sorry about htat. i will keep you in my prayers today. Forgive me.

John

[Paisley]

I am a binge eater. I was told as a teen that the doctor was pretty sure that I had an eating disorder... although he wasn't sure which one.

I used to go through long binge/fast cycles when I was thin. Now I just binge. I have gained at least 130 lbs in the last decade.

I do consider it a sin and a very difficult one to control. Right now I'm not doing so well with it.
I will pray for you on this. :crosseo: I know food can be such a problem to us, and getting out of it is so hard when it is.

[OnTheWay]

Obviously such a disorder goes beyond simple vanity, but a girl wanting to look like the runway models isn't an uncommon reason for these things to develop.

I don't for a single second believe that someone that stuffs themselves to morbid obesity doesn't have just as much of an eating disorder as someone on the other end of the scale.

[Xpycoctomos]

oopss.. wrong thread...

[irishseventysix]

There is also a connection with eating disorders and sexual abuse, though it's more about control and keeping oneself "safe" than it is about vanity. Though reasons of vanity are more likely to be how people rationalize their behavior, vanity is not at the core.

My psychology professor said that many people who have been sexually abused by members of the opposite sex will subconsciously altar their weight to make themselves unattractive to any future offender. Because such people assume that the offense was their own fault. So some might subconsciously resist eating so that their bodies become so thin that they lose their defining gender features (i.e., what is subconsciously assumed that the offender found attractive in the first place). And some might over-eat so that their gender features are marred or obscured by their body fat.

In those cases, when it comes to where the guilt lies, however, I would have a hard time ascribing much of it to the one with the eating disorder.

Of course, the circumstances I just described are probably not true for everyone. And the pressue to look attractive is great. So in some people, vanity might be a bigger part of the problem. But I don't think that goes for everyone with such a disorder, or even many of them.

[Akathist]

There is also a connection with eating disorders and sexual abuse, though it's more about control and keeping oneself "safe" than it is about vanity. Though reasons of vanity are more likely to be how people rationalize their behavior, vanity is not at the core.

My psychology professor said that many people who have been sexually abused by members of the opposite sex will subconsciously altar their weight to make themselves unattractive to any future offender. Because such people assume that the offense was their own fault. So some might subconsciously resist eating so that their bodies become so thin that they lose their defining gender features (i.e., what is subconsciously assumed that the offender found attractive in the first place). And some might over-eat so that their gender features are marred or obscured by their body fat.

In those cases, when it comes to where the guilt lies, however, I would have a hard time ascribing much of it to the one with the eating disorder.

Of course, the circumstances I just described are probably not true for everyone. And the pressue to look attractive is great. So in some people, vanity might be a bigger part of the problem. But I don't think that goes for everyone with such a disorder, or even many of them.

You are absolutely right about how for some over eating (which is not an eating disorder) is often related to being a victim of sexual abuse which could be molestation or rape. And this is also true for anorexia (and somewhat for bulimia). In this case, they may not be able to control somethings but they can control what they eat.

Over eating with the goal to gain weight out of low self esteem and because of sexual assault is my problem. I remember the day I decided to do this. And I do consider that decision of mine a sin. It was a sin because I didn't show trust in God, it was a sin because I was willing to harm my body.

My opinion is that if an eating disorder is something that someone has no control over, the fact that they have it is not a sin, but it would be a sin not to get help for it and to continue to harm the body.

Consider this situation: There is medication that doctors give for mental health problems that cause an increase to hunger triggers resulting in weight gain. When doctors give this prescription they usually tell the patient about the side effect and strongly recommend a diet be followed.

The increase in appetite is not a sin. But to refuse to follow the diet would be, imo.

That is what I mean by saying the eating disorder is not a sin but not treating it could be.