Disordered Eating and Mortal Sin

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Hi, I read online that eating disorders were considered a mortal sin. That not giving your body the nutrition it needs or overeating is grave matter, having full knowledge that it is wrong, and giving deliberate consent are all the requirements for mortal sin. I have not been diagnosed with an eating disorder, but I have struggled with my eating habits for about 2 years now and go through periods of starving myself and through periods of eating as much as I can. I have attempted to purge multiple times by throwing up, but have never successfully purged. The reason I do this is because I view myself in a negative way and I constantly want to be thinner and lose weight. Throughout the 2 years I have been struggling with my eating habits I have received holy communion and been to confession many times, I know disordered eating is wrong, I just never thought to bring up my eating habits in confession and didn’t really take time to think if it was grave matter or not (would that be ignorance?).
The reason I am writing this post is because I don’t know whether I should go to confession this Saturday and confess my eating habits as a mortal sin, if it is a mortal sin (therefore also confess receiving holy communion while in a state of mortal sin and not confessing it for all the times in the past 2 years). I am also hesitant to go this Saturday because my eating habits cause me a lot of distress, it’s something I feel like I can’t control, and I am likely to quickly slip back into my starve/binge cycle and commit mortal sin again so soon after confession. I am starting therapy at the end of this month, so I’m not sure if I should wait until I go to therapy and get my eating under control before I go to confession, because I know you are supposed to make a strong effort not to sin again after receiving absolution and if I go this Saturday I know I will slip back into my eating habits quickly and I want to be in a condition where I know I will make an honest effort.
Thanks so much for reading this post, all answers are appreciated.
 
Where exactly did you read that having an eating disorder is a mortal sin? An eating disorder is generally caused by a mental health issue. If you are in the grip of a mental illness, you are not making the choice of eating/ starving/ binge/ purge whatever with a clear mind and free will intent. You are ill, not sinful, and you need medical and mental health help.

Your post indicates all the signs of a classic eating disorder and you further mention you are soon going to start therapy to get help for it. I don’t see any sin being committed here. Focus on your therapy and getting well because this is a condition that could be life-threatening if you don’t treat it.
 
Mental illnesses and their consequent behaviors are not usually considered sins because the illness or addiction reduces the ability to freely consent. What you describe does sound like a classic eating disorder. Please get professional medical attention ASAP. It will only get harder to resist if you let it go on. God wants you to recover from this. It is really a medical issue, not something to feel guilty or scrupulous about. You can always go to confession and this is certainly something that you can discuss with your pastor or confessor. I suspect that he will say something similar to what I wrote.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Where exactly did you read that having an eating disorder is a mortal sin? An eating disorder is generally caused by a mental health issue. If you are in the grip of a mental illness, you are not making the choice of eating/ starving/ binge/ purge whatever with a clear mind and free will intent. You are ill, not sinful, and you need medical and mental health help.

Your post indicates all the signs of a classic eating disorder and you further mention you are soon going to start therapy to get help for it. I don’t see any sin being committed here. Focus on your therapy and getting well because this is a condition that could be life-threatening if you don’t treat it.
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You’ve received some excellent answers already. I just wanted to reaffirm the above, that you focus on your therapy. I am so happy to hear that you will be getting therapy for this serious condition and just wanted to say I hope it goes well with you and that God will give you strength go engage in treatment.

God Bless,

Mary.
 
I’m in a similar boat. I had never thought that my binge eating was sinful and never thought to bring it up in confession. I was actually naive enough to think that I was not being gluttonous because I had never purged!:doh2:

As another CA member told you, you do show signs of an eating disorder, which means that you can not give the deliberate consent necessary for a mortal sin. There was nothing in your post to indicate that you deliberately refused to consider it, and it’s not necessarily a sin people ordinarily think of. Either way, confessors are illuminated by the Holy Spirit and will be able to absolve venial sins along with mortal ones.

What worked for me when I started confessing it was to consider brevity in line so that I didn’t take too much of the priest’s time and cost others in line behind me; it also helped focus my thoughts. Every time I bring it up with any priest, I get the impression that they hear it a lot, just like when I confess some of my other “favorite” sins. The bottom line is to just go. Nothing will change until you take that first step and subsequent steps will be easier. Having a regular confessor helps so that you only have to give the background info once. Either way, confessors are illuminated by the Holy Spirit when they listen to you.

I’m praying for the intercession of St. Dymphna. May God bless you in your quest for holiness. In Jesus’ name I pray for you. Amen.
 
Jerome1974 said:
I’m in a similar boat. I had never thought that my binge eating was sinful and never thought to bring it up in confession. I was actually naive enough to think that I was not being gluttonous because I had never purged!:doh2:

As another CA member told you, you do show signs of an eating disorder, which means that you can not give the deliberate consent necessary for a mortal sin. There was nothing in your post to indicate that you deliberately refused to consider it, and it’s not necessarily a sin people ordinarily think of. Either way, confessors are illuminated by the Holy Spirit and will be able to absolve venial sins along with mortal ones.

What worked for me when I started confessing it was to consider brevity in line so that I didn’t take too much of the priest’s time and cost others in line behind me; it also helped focus my thoughts. Every time I bring it up with any priest, I get the impression that they hear it a lot, just like when I confess some of my other “favorite” sins. The bottom line is to just go. Nothing will change until you take that first step and subsequent steps will be easier. Having a regular confessor helps so that you only have to give the background info once. Either way, confessors are illuminated by the Holy Spirit when they listen to you.

I’m praying for the intercession of St. Dymphna. May God bless you in your quest for holiness. In Jesus’ name I pray for you. Amen.
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Thank you! This helps a lot, God bless, praying for you too! 🙂
 
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