What to confess for eating disorder

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What sin do I need to confess during reconciliation for anorexia/bulimia?
 
Well, just having the disorder itself is not a sin. If, due to the disorder, you have harmed yourself by starving yourself, or bingeing, or purging, just be honest with the priest. Tell him something like “I have had anorexia/bulimia for 3 years and last week I binged after a stressful day (if you want to be really precise you can tell him about how much food it was…when I struggled with this I would tell the priest what I ate and his reaction of shock and concern woke me up to how unusual the behavior was) and then forced myself to throw up”. Since psychological addictions and disorders can lessen culpability, you may not even be guilty of serious sin, but the priest can still help you ask God to help you overcome the disorder. I’ll always remember what my priest said to me about it: God’s love is stronger than our weakness. It’s simple, but it has gotten me through a lot.
 
If you want to get technical about it, it is the commandment “thou shall not kill.” Don’t be in denial–anorexia & bulimia is abuse of your own body up to the point where you can kill yourself.

But I would just confess that you abuse food—it is a form of gluttony–because God is providing you the nourishment to feed your body but you refuse perhaps dues to vanity, control issues, selfishness or both.

There is a huge psychological component to a lot of sins but that is no reason not to confess them. Some people will call them disorders, addictions, etc & that may be true but you should still confess them to receive God’s grace in overcoming this.
 
KatyBob said:
What sin do I need to confess during reconciliation for anorexia/bulimia?
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I hope you are getting help and working a program of recovery. If you are not…then that would be a sin. I’ll be keeping you in my thoughts & prayers. God Bless
 
KatyBob said:
What sin do I need to confess during reconciliation for anorexia/bulimia?
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Anorexia and bulimia are psychological and medical conditions. They are not sins.
You might want to discuss your predicament with a priest or deacon as they can pray for you and even administer the sacrament of healing to you.
 
peary said:
Anorexia and bulimia are psychological and medical conditions. They are not sins.
You might want to discuss your predicament with a priest or deacon as they can pray for you and even administer the sacrament of healing to you.
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I disagree. It is sinful to harm your body in anyway whether it is overeating or undereating. It may be a psychological condition but so is pedophilia. What is the root cause of anorexia/bulimia? People don’t want to get fat. That is vanity.
 
turtle18 said:
I disagree. It is sinful to harm your body in anyway whether it is overeating or undereating. It may be a psychological condition but so is pedophilia. What is the root cause of anorexia/bulimia? People don’t want to get fat. That is vanity.
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The root cause of anorexia/bulimia is not vanity. Not even close.
 
KatyBob said:
What sin do I need to confess during reconciliation for anorexia/bulimia?
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Birdie74 (the first reply) has given you excellent advice.

I’d just like to add that you don’t really need to give an official name to each sin. Just say in plain words what you did. It’s much clearer that way.

May God bless you with healing.

Betsy
 
turtle18 said:
What is the root cause of anorexia/bulimia? People don’t want to get fat. That is vanity.
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EDs can look straightforward, but they are not. They are complex mental health problems arising from a number of different factors. Accusing people with an eating disorder of vanity is not helpful, anymore than telling someone seriosuly depressed to ‘cheer up’.

Katy,

I suffer from serious, clinical depression. I have confessed self destructive thoughts and other damaging behaviours and the priest has always absolved me. Having a serious mental health problem is recognised by the church as a reason for not holding people entirely culpable. However, being forgiven is a very powerful experience and can help a great deal, especially where guilt is a major component.

God Bless
 
In reading these various comments about anorexia I felt very sad because my niece died of the disease several years ago. When I think of what she gave up to be thin my heart breaks. She was in her 40’s and had 2 children about 10 and 12. Her husband has done a fabulous job with the children but I’m sure it’s been a very difficult time him as well as her “kids”. She was in the hospital in intensive care for over 2 months – also on life support, and I truly regret that I didn’t see her while she was in the hospital. However, every time I mentioned that I would like to visit, her Mom (my sister) gave me some excuse for not visiting. If she had survived she would have had to have a very serious surgery. I do pray each and every day for those suffering from this terrible disease.
 
turtle18 said:
I disagree. It is sinful to harm your body in anyway whether it is overeating or undereating. It may be a psychological condition but so is pedophilia. What is the root cause of anorexia/bulimia? People don’t want to get fat. That is vanity.
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WOW! What a load of nonsense! That’s just pop-psycho-babble! And such arrogance! It would be worth your while to deove into the problem-addictions of eating disorders. It would save you from further embarrassment in your postings. God help you.
 
Three conditions must be met for a sin to be a mortal sin.
  1. The sin must be of grave matter
  2. Must be committed with full knowledge
  3. Must be done with deliberate consent
This is from paragraph 1857 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

As anorexia/bulimia are psychiatric disorders deliberate consent is not present so it can not be a mortal sin. I would even question if it is a sin at all.
 
ByzCath said:
Three conditions must be met for a sin to be a mortal sin.
  1. The sin must be of grave matter
  2. Must be committed with full knowledge
  3. Must be done with deliberate consent
This is from paragraph 1857 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

As anorexia/bulimia are psychiatric disorders deliberate consent is not present so it can not be a mortal sin. I would even question if it is a sin at all.
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But if you don’t seek proper treatment for it, THIS may be the sin.
 
Many times a situation has aspects that are sinful, and aspects that are somehow due to the situation we are in. So an alcoholic, if he drinks too much and berates his wife, should confess that. Is he totally responsible? No, genetics might play a role, the fact that he was under stress, his upbringing, any number of things.

We don’t need to worry about all of that - God makes our excuses for us, he knows all of the circumstances that apply. We only need to worry about being sorry, and then we need to leave both parts behind.

It could be useful in avoiding further problems to try and suss out just what your willful, or even unwitting, contribution was. Were you feeling under pressure, reading Vogue, letting your mom pick at you, avoiding seeing the doctor, going to a place you know you should avoid, not taking medication? If you decide something applies, then confess that specifically. If not, then it can’t hurt to talk to the priest, even if he tells you there probably wasn’t really any sin.
 
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