The Addiction Help .com

Not one food specifically just food in general.

It's just one of those "just do it" things. Make a list of the foods you should and would eat during the day and stick to it. Pinch yourself really frigging hard when you falter, and picture yourself achieving this goal.

And prayer is supposed to help, too.

Good luck!

2007-06-18 16:05:19 by shoVel

A speech given April 25, 2009 at quot;Obesity and Food Addiction Summitquot; Uploaded with consent of Kay Sheppard, speaker. Kay Sheppard, MA ...

I debated this issue with my co-workers: they think that a person can be addicted to food because there are people who constantly eat to fill a void. If that person stops eating something, they have "withdrawal" symptoms (according to one co-worker).

I am reluctant to agree with them. I think that addiction is a physical/physiological dependence on a substance. Just because a person is an over-eater, doesn't mean that they are going through withdrawal symptoms because they are trying to "kick" the doughnut habit they are on.

However, I (like my co-workers) am not a psychologist or an addiction specialist. Therefore, I would like to hear from professionals in addiction who can give me a definition of addiction and explain how a person can be dependent on food the same way a drug user can.

Also, do you believe that the word "addicted" is over-used? Do you think that it makes people weaker than what they really are?
I agree that many people have a psychological dependence to certain things--be it food, gambling, sex, etc. However, to me, addiction is also defined by a physiolgical dependence, which would have been developed by that person's consumption or use of the thing that makes them addicted. True, there are some people who can use drugs and not become addicted, but that is done on a recreational level. Give that person enough time and enough opportunities to do it on a regular basis and they will be addicted. The proof is in their physical withdrawal. However, with food, it is, in my opinion, more psychological.

There are two words that are often misused and confused, addiction and habituation.

An addiction is a physiolgical process characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal. Tolerance is the physiological process of needing a progressively greater amount of a substance of abuse to get the same effect. For example, while one used to get a good buzz on after four beers, now he or she needs eight beers to get the same effect. Physiological withdrawal symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, profuse sweating, muscular tremors, pain and cramps, agitation, delusions, and halluscinations,

An habituation is a psychological process, a learned pattern of behavior. Exposure to a substance or experience may become psychologically rewarding but not necessary for maintaining physical health. In the extreme, this pattern may take on qualities of an obsessive-compulsive (OC) disorder. In OC disorders, one usually experiences a growing anxiety until the pattern can be completed. Afterward, the person experiences a rewarding sense of relief as the anxiety is dissipated. Tolerance and withdrawal are not parts of habituation.

Now, to the specific issue of overeating. There can be a number of explanations for overeating including a learned habit, a physical disease process such as metabolic disorders, nutritional deficiencies, intestinal paracites, or trauma to certain areas in the brain involved in regulating metabolism or sensing when a sufficient amount of nutrition has been consumed.

In the technical sense, overeating is more accurately described as a matter of habituation if there are no medical causes. Psychologically, a person may learn to associate food or the process of eating with emotional comfort, satisfaction, security, etc., or even simply a cultural tradition. Lack of access to food leads to a sense of emotional deprivation and anxiety which is relieved by eating. The physiological processes of tolerance and withdrawal are not involved.

I hope this helps to clear the fog.

2009-02-19 06:10:29 by Stankonia

I want to start a non-profit food addiction tx center in the Pacific NW. I will need counselors, drivers, dieticians, cooks, nurses, doctors, nurses aides, psych techs, housekeepers, office staff, fund raisers, grant writers and more. I would prefer people with addiction training, psych training and or personal addiction/ed experience. Contact me through my profile. I am very serious. Meanwhile: if you read this far and need help for yourself, I know several places on the East Coast or Texas. Possibility of a private home a few other places.
I am thinking that I am on a 10 year plan for this, beginning w an outpt. intensive prgm and working up to a full service hospital that can treat comorbitities but if a good board can be assembled right away and a grant written that scores...then wherever God wills and whenever!

I am employed in one of the above catergories and am well educated on this side of things. I would love to offer my assistance to you and your wonderful cause. We will contact eachother.

2008-05-30 01:36:19 by Joy S

I have recently created a non-profit corporation. The purpose is to help women stuck in life controlling issues like prostitution, addiction, abuse, homelessness, etc. transform their live. We have seen wonderful success, but need additional funding to continue providing food, clothing, transportation, professional counseling, education, etc.

Check out http://www.schoolpals.net There are a variety of fundraisers listed on the site including engraved gifts, personalized calendars, cookie dough, etc. Let me know if you have any questions and/or if I can be of any assistance.

Good luck!

2006-08-30 14:56:22 by DOLS77

I have fought with a gambling problem, now, for three years. I've been told, by gamblers Annonymous, that I am beyond what they can do.
My body was barely starting puberty when I began taking massive amounts of drugs, and alcohol. Throw in the pubescent sexual-awareness tendencies that age brings about and the party-hard philosophy of the time(70's), I've never been able to get enough pleasure. My brain is constantly trying to find ways to make me feel or not-feel. I spend every waking minute orally fixated with cigarettes, and go from coffee with 4 shots of esp. and a ton of sugar, to beer, whisky, soda, junkfood, candy, salts, spicy foods, etc. I've been doing crank for 25 years, it only calms me down, now. I've recently discovered the money isn't why I gamble, it's the adrenaline rush...which is stronger when I lose and the more I lose and the more devastating to my life it is, the bigger the rush. I know I need professional help,( no insur. tho).Is there a clinic?Anybody?

I can empathize with you. I am 32 this year. I have been to rehab. I've been a crack head/coke head. I am becoming increasingly agoraphobic (stay in my room most of the day). When stressed I incessantly pick at the hairs on my body to "groom" myself (obsessive-compulsive). These behaviours began when i was 16.

After having read alot of info and researched alot of different "diseases", I have discovered that I may be Attention Deficit. This explains the attention span problems but also implies my original need for "extra" stimulation. Each level of stimulation leads to the next "bigger and better" stimulant. Each layer adds to the level of anxiety being felt.

Much like an onion, this creates a series of layers that surround each otherand a central core. When dealing with each layer you must peel them off in order. Cause and Effect. Each layer magnifies the one below and conceals it at the same time.

For instance, in my case, The crack/cocaine was the final straw that made me seek help. I went to rehab and spent 6 months in Narcotics Anonymous before I understood what the habit was doing to me. Upon relapsing I went back to the next best thing, weed. Now a year later, after seeing how this behaviour affects me, I am removing the weed from my life and trying to rid myself of the behaviours that came with it.

Cause and Effect. One behaviour is used to mask another. If you do not peel one mask off you will not see yourself. But this may not be you yet. So you peel another mask off to see what is underneath.

I wish you the best of luck. People on our path have a lot of work ahead of us because of the work behind us. They say that you do not mature after the first addiction occurs. I'm a 16 yr old trying to live the life of a 32 yr old. Its hard but it better than the last 16 yrs have been.

2007-02-17 03:58:23 by jemrx2