How churches can support eating disorder recovery

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Mental illness often comes bearing the weight of societal and self-stigma, which makes speaking up and seeking support difficult, especially in communities of faith.

As someone in recovery from anorexia, sharing my story often leads to correcting societal myths about eating disorders, with the reminder there is a person begging to be seen on the other side of assumptions.

Stigma is the product of a lack of education, understanding and experience in a society desiring answers. In this desire for answers, when we cross paths with someone whose story holds mental illness, we are apt to grab hold of the commonly held assumptions that perpetuate a cycle of harm. All too often, church leaders fall prey to these misconceptions, which unfortunately leads to unintentional harm to individuals who come to them for support.

Knowing the truth

Cynthia Bulik and colleagues identified nine truths about eating disorders. I want to highlight three. While these are specific to eating disorders, they also apply to a broader understanding of mental health.

Truth 1: “Many people with eating disorders look healthy, yet may be extremely ill.”

Eating disorders are serious and have life-threatening physical and psychological symptoms often associated with serious medical complications affecting every system of the body. Weight is not the only critical marker of an eating disorder, and most individuals with eating disorders do not appear emaciated.

Truth 2: “Eating disorders are not choices, but serious biologically influenced illnesses.”

Contrary to popular belief, people do not choose to have difficult relationships with food. There are many things that can lead to an eating disorder, including one’s genetics and the physical and social environment in which a person develops.

The social environment specifically influences eating disorders through the way we talk about food and people’s bodies. Being surrounded by a culture hyper-focused on food and idealizing thin bodies causes our brain to normalize negative responses to food and our relationship with food. Eventually, this normalization becomes our brain’s automatic response to food and, if not addressed, ultimately will lead to disordered eating.

Truth 3: Eating disorders do not discriminate.

“Eating disorders affect people of all genders, ages, races, ethnicities, body shapes and weights, sexual orientations … socioeconomic status” and faith affiliation. It can be easy to fall into the assumption “it will never happen to me,” especially in our faith communities. The reality is mental health is real; we all have it.

While specific identities may positively or negatively impact one’s experience with mental illness or an eating disorder, they do not exclude someone from the possibility of experiencing one. Most importantly, the presence of an eating disorder does not diminish the strength or existence of our faith.


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What congregations can do

View eating disorders as a serious mental illness with significant biological impact.

It is important we recognize eating disorders as serious mental illnesses for a variety of interconnected reasons. A primary reason is to get everyone on the same page about the topic, which promotes education and decreases stigma associated with eating disorders and mental illness.

Reduced stigma opens the door for individuals to be more open about their experience without fear of judgment, and then seek the support needed from faith communities and trained mental health professionals.

Listen to the stories sitting in front of you.

Sadly, I think we have lost sight of the value in the humanity that exists within the persons we interact with each day, especially when they carry the weight of mental illness. There is value in listening to the story of the person sitting in front of you.

Create spaces that allow people to come wholly as they are and be as vulnerable as they are willing to be. This requires church leaders to enter those spaces as learners themselves, recognizing the person sitting across from them is the expert of their own lives. This is especially important for individuals struggling with eating disorders or any mental health issue.

Each journey is unique and impacts individuals in a variety of ways. Because of this, the greatest gift we can offer is a compassionate listening ear. There is power in asking questions about what kind of support they are looking for, without assuming we have all the answers.

Resource and refer.

Eating disorders are experienced differently by everyone affected. There are multiple pathways for support and recovery both inside and outside the church. Having options, or multiple pathways for support honors the person standing in front of you.

Equip your church and your church staff with an array of resources to refer individuals. Included in this may be groups hosted within your church, community-based mental health services or media sources such as articles, social media and podcasts.

Congregations are great assets to the communities in which they operate and exist. Having collaborations with professionals in your community is one of the best ways you can support individuals with mental illness.

Mental health professionals are trained for times such as this and hold value for those who need and benefit from their services. Reach out to your local mental health professionals, and ask them for resources to provide your congregation, which in turn will build a relationship for future referrals.

One of the best ways you can serve and love the individuals who come to you with eating disorders is to see them for who they are—unique creations from the hands of God—and honor that through a compassionate commitment to care.

Offer your support, and recognize their faith can be an asset to their journey with mental health when handled uniquely and with an abundance of care.

Paige Grace is a Master of Social Work graduate student at Baylor University’s Garland School of Social Work, a community practice social work intern at The Center for Church and Community Impact, and a member of a Baptist church.


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