How does God view eating disorders?
I recently read one of those “Research Shows” articles online that claim that eating disorders have mysterious and undetermined biochemical causes. The article was riddled with misinformation and unsubstantiated claims, including the following:
“…Unlike a neurological disorder, which can usually be identified with a specific lesion in the brain, an eating disorder likely involves abnormal activity distributed throughout brain systems. With increased recognition that mental disorders are brain disorders, more researchers are using tools from both modern neuroscience and modern psychology to better understand eating disorders.”
In fact, the conjecture that eating disorders are caused by chemical imbalances or abnormal brain activity is quite easy to disprove. I’ll just touch on the lack of evidence for these claims and then move on to the actual underlying problem.
1.) There is NO biochemical evidence, in 2 decades of research, that has ever indicated that eating disorders are caused by chemical imbalances, genetic mutations, pathogens, or any other neurological abnormalities;
2.) SSSIs and psychotropic medications (different forms of antidepressants) have never been shown to have any effect on eating disorders;
3.) Antidepressants don’t even help depressed people, with or without eating disorders. A 2000 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry following Prozac and Selexor showed that of psychiatric patients prescribed medication, 24% responded well to the herbal remedy St. John’s Wort; 25% to Zoloft and 30% to a placebo. Thus, a sugar pill was shown to be more useful than drugs.
The question of “chemical imbalance” is a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario. Since addictions are understood to fuel endorphins, the “pleasure center” of the brain, it is possible that the addictive effect of the binge, turned into a habit, may have altered brain chemistry. When relearning to eat, the bulimic has to fight very real cravings and essentially “rewire” her brain. By no means, however, does this indicate that the bulimic behavior was caused by chemical abnormalities. Rather, as in the case of a drug addict, it points to a chemical dependency that has been caused by the behavior (and not the other way around).
Also, if psychiatrists are so sure that eating disorders are ‘diseases’, why is diagnosis based solely on symptoms? What diagnostic tests are used to determine brain activity that is supposed to be so abnormal? Cat analysis? magnetic resonance? Blood test? Biopsy? Tissue samples? No. Absolutely nothing. If these eating disorders are just “diseases,” why do people who carry them feel guilty about their behavior? Would you feel guilty if you had chickenpox or cancer? Or could it be, just perhaps, that they know, deep down, that they are doing something wrong, even though they are not quite sure the reasons for their compulsion?
Knowing that I am a biblical counselor and that I have written a book on the biblical response to food addiction, the administrator of the forum where this particular article was posted asked me to write an article on God’s vision of eating disorders. Let me say at the outset that God’s view of disordered eating is the same as his view of all other addictions: He calls it sin. Sin is an action, word or thought that goes against the will and character of God. An addiction is a life that dominates sin.
Relabeling ‘sin’ as ‘sickness’ or ‘sickness’ is an attempt to remove personal responsibility for behavior. Harold Hughes, the Iowa congressman who championed alcohol coverage, admitted that the aggressive campaign to have the American Psychiatric Association label alcoholism a “disease” was nothing more than an attempt to get insurance companies to of health will pay for the treatment and, therefore, continue to found hospitals afloat. (It worked, by the way. More than half of health insurance spending now goes to “mental health” care.) Those who see their attachment to drugs, alcohol, or food as a “disease” fatalistically they tend to believe that “they will never be recovered; always in recovery”. Conversely, if we realize that this behavior is rebellion against God, in whose image we are made, and call it what it is, sin, we can have great hope! We already know what the answer is: repentance.
Anorexia and bulimia are spiritual diseases disguised as physical diseases. In fact, for this reason, I think the term “recovery” it’s a bit inaccurate and therefore I try to avoid using it. Recover It has a connotation of convalescence and passive improvement typical of physical illnesses. What I hope to teach you is how regretso that God can restore you. Since the Bible talks about overcoming sin, we can use that term here as well. To all who are in Him, Christ promises victory, and that is our ultimate goal.
Addictions are, in fact, learned behaviorsWhat can be unlearned. Hopefully, we can all agree that self-destructive behavior is a sin. I have seen 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” taken out of context and used to argue against everything from piercings to eating French fries, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to apply it to eating disorders. The Bible always mentions “gluttony” in a negative way (see Deuteronomy 21:20; Proverbs 23:21; Matthew 11:19; Titus 1:12). In 1 Corinthians 6:20, Paul goes on to say: “Therefore honor God with your bodies.” Later in the same letter he says, “But whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Does bulimic behavior honor or glorify God? Does he show self control?
Ask yourself honestly: Do I consider my behavior (bingeing, purging, hungry, or overeating) to be sinful? If so, are you really okay with continuing on it? Biblical counselor and author Martha Peace puts the problem succinctly: “Bulimia is bad for two reasons: First, it can cause serious medical problems, such as damage to the esophagus and teeth. Second, it’s a sin because overeating is gluttony, vomiting is a lack of self-control, and wanting to be so thin that you are willing to sin is idolatry.”
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Paul gives us a laundry list of what types of people, who, if they continue in their sinful lifestyle of choice, will not inherit the Kingdom of God. He completes his litany of life-dominating sins by recalling the Corinthians, “And so were some of you.” He is talking about Christians who, before they believed in Christ and gave up their sinful lifestyle, were controlled by things like alcohol, greed, and homosexuality. “Were” is not time. They left this lifestyle behind. If God commands us to repent, and the Scriptures tell us that if we are in Christ, sin no longer has the power to control us, then it must be possible to “put off” an addiction and “put on” freedom. God does not demand of us something that we are incapable of giving, and perfect holiness has already been achieved by his children through the death of Christ on the Cross. Therefore, we are urged in Philippians 3:16 to “to live up to what we’ve already achieved.” This includes repentance for the idolatrous sins of anorexia and bulimia.