Step by step toward a healthy outlook
Gina grew up in a loving Christian home. She had good friends, excelled academically, and was active in sports and music in high school. She didn’t think much about her weight or appearance, and was always eager to try new adventures.
Therapy helped Gina understand why she acted as she did. Her exercise and eating patterns spiraled out of control because she was deeply unhappy and uncertain about her life.
Gina’s eating disorder began at the end of her first year of Bible college. The transition to campus life was harder than she expected. Her studies were challenging, but she was determined to make the grades she had in high school. While she had once looked forward to being away from home, now she didn’t quite know how she fit into the college environment. At times she wondered how she would make it through the year.
The disorder started gradually. First Gina gave up desserts, and then slowly added other foods to her “forbidden” list. She began exercising more and taking long walks that extended through meal times. She would run stairs and do aerobics, even after a two-hour basketball practice.
Initially, controlling how much she ate and exercised felt good. But more and more, she felt miserable and isolated from others. Her weight dropped dramatically. On her walks, she had long conversations with God, praying for release from her obsessive thoughts of food and exercise. . . .
What are eating disorders?
Eating disorders are serious health problems that must be treated with professional help. The primary signs of an eating disorder are unhealthy attitudes and behaviors toward food. However, the root is much deeper. Eating disorders are unhealthy ways of coping with such pressures as low self-esteem, feelings of overwhelming anxiety, a need to be perfect, a struggle with difficult or abusive relationships – or a combination of these. They are often accompanied or fed by depression, sleep disturbances, or substance abuse.
It may be very difficult for you to admit that you have an eating disorder, particularly if you have been hiding your feelings and behaviors from those around you. You may be convinced that what you are doing is perfectly normal. In the early stages, you may even feel empowered by the sense of control you have.
But now, instead of you controlling your behaviors, they are controlling you. With professional help you can focus your attention on the deeper issues, as well as on the behaviors you’ve developed to cope with them. . . .
Eating disorders, the Bible, and the Christian story
We read a story in
Mark 5:24–34 about a woman whose life is ebbing away. A flow of blood has depleted her body’s resources for 12 long years. Doctors have taken her money but have not helped her, and her condition is worse than ever.
When she hears of Jesus, she experiences a spark of hope. She goes to see him, but immediately confronts barriers. In her culture, women like her were unjustly looked down upon and misunderstood. For years, she has internalized the message that she is not worthy. This alone, along with her weakened physical condition, have made it difficult to reach out.
But the woman does not give up her hope of healing. She reaches out and touches the hem of Jesus’ garment, and immediately knows in her body that she is healed. Jesus knows that power has gone out of him. With compassion he tells the woman, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (v. 34).
If you have an eating disorder, you probably have some things in common with this woman. Energy that should be for your body’s benefit is depleted or denied, and your body suffers along with your mind. . . .
Steps toward freedom and recovery
- Reach out. If you suspect or know that you have an eating disorder, reaching out is the first step toward recovery. Ask a family member, your pastor, your physician, or someone you trust to help you find the professional help you need. A psychiatrist, psychologist, or physician who deals with eating disorders can outline a plan of treatment that may involve a team approach. You may need to try a number of therapists until you find the ones with whom you can work best.
- Stop blaming yourself or others. Remember that your disorder is a complex mix of medical, chemical, and psychological factors that may have very little to do with any wrong actions or words of you, your parents, or anyone else. . .
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