The question comes up often: Should someone with an eating disorder serve an LDS mission? My answer is no. Missionary work is demanding, spiritually, emotionally, and physically and those demands can make an eating disorder worse, not better. Even someone who isn’t using active eating disorder behaviors still needs a strong and stable eating disorder recovery still needs strong and steady recovery before entering an environment as stressful and structured as a mission.
I want to be clear about my intention in writing this. This isn’t about criticizing missionary service or questioning the faith of those who want to serve. I have deep respect for young adults who choose to give so much of themselves. What I cannot do is minimize the risks. Eating disorders are serious medical and psychological conditions, and ignoring them in the name of faith or duty only causes more harm. Not serving because of an eating disorder does not mean someone is weak, less faithful, or lacking in desire, but it means their health and safety come first. My goal is to give families honest information so they can protect their loved ones and make decisions that put health first. If you or your family are navigating these challenges, know that eating disorder therapy in Utah can provide the specialized support needed for eating disorder recovery and long-term health.
In this post, I’ll walk through why serving a mission with an eating disorder is unsafe, what stable eating disorder recovery should look like before missionary service, and how families can take steps toward healing and hope.
Why Serving with an Eating Disorder Is Unsafe
Missionary life is physically, emotionally, and spiritually demanding. Long days, strict schedules, and constant pressure to represent the Church can take a toll on even the healthiest young adult. For someone with an eating disorder, these demands can make symptoms worse instead of better.
It’s also important to be clear about this: serving a mission does not make an eating disorder go away. The Church has even acknowledged this in the Ensign (2007): “Eating disorders … will not resolve themselves during a mission. Because they are so difficult to treat, they may not be compatible with missionary service.” In other words, hoping a mission will “fix” the problem is not realistic.
I explore more about how anxiety, perfectionism, and missionary culture connect with eating disorders in my full post on LDS Missionaries and Mental Health.
Treating an eating disorder is already an intense process, even outside of missionary service. Most people in recovery need a full team: an eating disorder therapist, dietitian, and medical doctor, along with regular therapy sessions, meal support, and daily work on eating patterns and coping skills. Recovery also requires steady access to family, loved ones, and supportive relationships. These supports help keep recovery on track, especially during moments of stress or setback.
One common mistake families make is believing that their missionary “isn’t sick enough” to need this level of care. Eating disorders don’t have to reach a certain weight, shape, or severity to be dangerous. If symptoms are present, treatment is necessary. Minimizing the illness only delays healing and increases the risk of serious complications.
This is especially true for binge eating disorder. Binge Eating Disorder often looks different from the stereotypical picture of an eating disorder; people may dismiss it as “overeating” or a lack of willpower. However, binge eating disorder is a serious medical and psychological condition. It can cause physical complications, deep shame, and emotional distress, and it requires the same level of professional eating disorder treatment and support as anorexia or bulimia.
Missionary life doesn’t allow for the kind of support eating disorder recovery requires. Missionaries are far from family and treatment teams, and their schedule leaves little room for coping strategies like rest, hobbies, or social support. Even if a missionary wants help, getting the right treatment during missionary service is extremely difficult. Without this support, the risks of relapse, medical complications, or emotional harm increase significantly.
What Stable Eating Disorder Recovery Should Look Like Before Serving
If serving a mission is the goal, eating disorder recovery has to come first. Mission life is simply too stressful and structured for someone who is still in the early or fragile stages of healing. Stable eating disorder recovery means more than just “not using eating disorder behaviors” for a short time. It means having the tools, support, and consistency to stay well even when life feels hard.
The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) reminds us that recovery usually takes years, not weeks or months. Many people need ongoing treatment and support before they can live free of eating disorder symptoms and handle triggers without slipping back. That’s why someone should only consider serving once they’ve been in steady recovery for a good amount of time, with both their loved ones and their treatment team agreeing they’re ready.
Some signs that eating disorder recovery is stable enough to even think about serving might look like this:
Eating regularly. Meals and snacks are consistent without skipping, restricting, bingeing, or purging.
Coping with triggers in healthy ways. Stress, body image struggles, or perfectionism don’t lead back to old eating disorder behaviors.
Emotional balance. They can face rejection, companionship stress, and spiritual pressure without falling into shame or constant self-criticism.
Support system agreement. Their eating disorder therapist, dietitian, doctor, and family all feel confident that eating disorder recovery is solid.
This decision should always be made with the guidance of an eating disorder treatment team, especially a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. They understand how complex eating disorder recovery is and can give honest feedback about whether someone is ready. Families and leaders shouldn’t have to guess, and faith alone is not enough to keep someone safe.
Eating disorder recovery also depends on steady support from family and loved ones, as well as access to coping tools like rest, hobbies, and relationships. Since missionaries don’t always have these things in the mission field, it’s important that those skills are strong and reliable before leaving.
Eating disorder recovery takes time, courage, and patience. A mission may be part of someone’s future, but it should never come before their health.
The Risks of Serving Too Soon
When someone with an eating disorder tries to serve a mission before they’re ready, the risks are very real. Missions are already stressful for healthy young adults. Adding an eating disorder on top of that stress can cause serious harm.
Some of the risks include:
Eating Disorder Relapse. The pressure, strict schedules, and lack of support often bring old eating disorder behaviors back, even if someone has been doing well at home.
Medical problems. Eating disorders affect the whole body. Serving too soon can lead to fainting, malnutrition, heart strain, or other dangerous complications.
Emotional and spiritual harm. Missionaries who relapse often feel shame, guilt, or unworthiness. Instead of feeling closer to God, they may feel like they are failing spiritually when, really, it’s their illness.
Early return. Many missionaries who relapse have to come home early for medical care. This can add even more pain and stigma when it could have been prevented by waiting.
These risks aren’t about weakness or lack of faith. They are about the reality of how serious eating disorders are. Serving too soon can make recovery longer and harder. Putting mental and physical health first is not failure.
The reality is that eating disorders are complex and difficult to treat, even in the best circumstances. The Church and mission presidents often don’t have the resources, training, or support systems in place to manage these illnesses during missionary service. As a result of this, missionaries with eating disorders are often sent home quickly if their struggles become visible. Knowing this, many missionaries do their best to hide symptoms out of fear of being sent home, which only makes the illness worse and prolongs suffering.
Support for Missionaries with Eating Disorders: Next Steps
If you’re worried about a missionary or future missionary with an eating disorder, the most important step is to put eating disorder recovery first. Missionary service is meaningful, but it should never come at the cost of long-term well-being.
Families and leaders can help by listening without judgment, asking open questions, and encouraging honesty. An eating disorder cannot be resolved by faith, prayer, scripture study, or the atonement alone, and it’s important not to pressure someone to believe otherwise or to push through without help. Faith can be a source of strength, but eating disorders need professional care.
Whenever possible, these decisions should be made with the guidance of an eating disorder treatment team, including a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. Professional support makes a huge difference in whether eating disorder recovery is lasting and stable.
Begin Eating Disorder Therapy in Utah
If you or your loved one is facing the question of whether to serve a mission while struggling with an eating disorder, the first step isn’t deciding about service; it’s choosing eating disorder recovery. Mental health and healing have to come first.
Eating disorders don’t get better by pushing through, and they aren’t cured by faith or willpower alone. They need professional care, steady support, and time. Choosing therapy now can protect the future and open the door to a healthier, stronger life, whether or not that includes a mission.
How to Start Working with an Eating Disorder Therapist in Utah
Taking the first step toward recovery can feel overwhelming, but I want to make starting eating disorder therapy simple for you. This Utah Eating Disorder Clinic has an eating disorder therapist who can help. Here’s how to get started:
Meet online with a therapist for eating disorders.
Begin eating disorder recovery
Online Eating Disorder Therapy in Utah
You don’t have to live near my office to get the support you need. Through secure online therapy in Utah, I’m able to work with women across the entire state of Utah. Many clients find that meeting online feels just as personal and supportive as being in the same room. You can talk openly from the comfort of your own home.
Whether you are located in St. George, Cedar City, Heber City, Salt Lake City, Logan to Provo, or anywhere in between, I can help you recover from your eating disorder
About the Author
Ashlee Hunt, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and the owner of Maple Canyon Therapy, an online counseling practice serving women across Utah. She earned her master’s degree in Social Work from Utah State University and has extensive experience treating eating disorders at every level of care, including inpatient, residential, intensive outpatient, and outpatient therapy.
Ashlee specializes in helping adult women heal from eating disorders, body image struggles, and anxiety. She combines her clinical expertise with years of direct work alongside missionaries, returned missionaries, and women of faith, giving her unique insight into the pressures and cultural influences that can affect recovery.
As both a therapist and an advocate, Ashlee is passionate about breaking the stigma around eating disorders and making compassionate, evidence-based treatment more accessible. Through her blog, she provides education, resources, and hope for families navigating eating disorder recovery.