Naperville chaplain focuses on spiritual health of those with behavioral disorders

"It was a vicious cycle of anorexia and bulimia," says Patricia Brugioni of Chicago. "I suffered from eating disorders for many years. It was an issue of worth for me. My self-worth was famished.

"Food is a symbol of love and comfort, and if you feel you are not valuable and lovable, you feel you are not worthy of being nourished."

Feeling unloved and unworthy is often at the heart of many behavioral disorders. How to break through these feelings and help others overcome these disorders is the mission of Ann Edwards, a chaplain at Linden Oaks Hospital in Naperville.

Edwards has found spirituality to be invaluable to individuals facing such challenges.

She has been a chaplain for 11 years and teaches classes in spirituality at Linden Oaks Hospital in Naperville and Plainfield. Previously she taught these classes at Arabella House, a residential community in Naperville for individuals with eating disorders, in conjunction with Edward Hospital.

Edwards loves her work because "everyone, at some level, knows that there is a spiritual part of them way down deep that gives meaning to their lives."

Over the years, Edwards says she has found the healing power of spirituality brings a greater sense of self-worth, empowerment and recovery to those in her classes.

For Brugioni, her struggles with eating disorders alienated her from her family. She moved to a new city - with only $100.

"I moved to sink or swim. Actually, I just thought I was going to sink. I had also been drinking to an alcoholic degree for 10 years, and did a little cocaine. But then, I started to attend some meetings with others who'd been freed of the compulsion to drink by turning to a higher power."

Brugioni said her growing spirituality was helping her overcome her eating disorder.

"As I began taking an inventory of the fear - really looking at it, facing it, being honest, and surrendering to a divine presence, I could feel an incredible love and gratitude within me - my spiritual nature. The unstoppable train of disorder stopped," she said.

Studies consistently show that complete mental wellness - not just the managing of a disorder, but the overcoming of it - often comes from finding that one's identity is not actually in the disorder. And, according to Edwards, spirituality is a means to that end.

"Spirituality is a very important part of who we are," Edwards says. "I have found in this work that compassion and gratitude are particularly important elements of our spirituality that have beneficial effects on our behavioral health."

Edwards has also found gratitude to be a useful quality to nurture as part of the strategy to help individuals overcome behavioral illness.

And, her colleague, chaplain Karen Siderski, manager of spiritual care and pastoral education for Edward and Linden Oaks hospitals, notes one of the most crucial components: "Our job is to listen and be intuitive - to tune in to those we meet."

And while the chaplains are showing understanding toward the patients, they help the patients learn to show compassion to themselves.

"Compassion is a huge component in getting well," Edwards says, "We must be compassionate to ourselves. Jesus said, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' I feel the 'as yourself' is very important to one's recovery and well-being. You have to first love and accept yourself, before you take care of all those other issues."

Once they can show compassion to themselves and heal, she said, then they are ready to use their experiences to help others.

"Then, you realize you have the gift of compassion for others," she says. "The places you have been (the abuse and disorders you have faced) allow you to give the gift of compassion to others because you have been there and speak from experience. "

•Thomas (Tim) Mitchinson is a self-syndicated columnist writing on the relationship between thought, spirituality and health, and trends in that field. He is also the media spokesman for Christian Science in Illinois. You can contact him at illinois@compub.org.