Similarities Between Food Addiction And Drug Addiction

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There are folks out there who have a real addiction when it comes to overeating, and they use food almost like a medication. Those who suffer from this addiction can have health problems pile up on them as a result of not eating healthy.

One of the bigger hurdles with eating addiction comes from the fact that the recovery strategy cannot really be complete abstinence from all food, like we would do for drugs or alcohol. Instead of this, those who have food addiction have to learn moderation, something this is pretty much seen as an unlikely outcome when it comes to handling other types of addictions. We all have to live to eat...there is no abstinence-based option for food addiction recovery. This makes it trickier to recover from than some other types of addictions, where a person can abstain entirely, such as drugs, gambling, and so on.

In spite of this stark difference, food addiction is actually quite similar to drug addiction. The reason for this is because of the basic mechanism and motivation for which people use drugs and consume food in an addictive manner. In each of these instances, addicts are using either eating or chemical substances in order to deal with their emotions.

When drug addicts have a bad day, or get stressed out about something, or just feel upset or angry, the will have a tendency to use their drug of choice in order to medicate their feelings. Similarly, a food addict will turn to certain comfort foods when they are upset about something in their life or feel stressed out. This is referred to as emotional eating, and it is clearly doing much the same thing as taking drugs would do.

Food addicts can deliberately raise their consciousness and see when they are reaching for a bag of potato chips out of boredom or frustration, instead of to satisfy genuine hunger. Many people get bored and will simply much on things that they don't really need. Others will munch on food simply out of habit, such as when they watch television.

In the same way, drug addicts take drugs for much the same motivations. Habits form slowly over time, and drug addicts might also try drugs out of sheer boredom also. These similarities are quite pronounced and it makes sense that people who have a problem with food addiction are using eating just like a drug. They are self medicating for a number of different reasons by getting a small rush that comes from filling up our stomachs and giving our taste buds something to chew on.

Due to these parallels, addicts and emotional eaters have discovered a unique recovery strategy, in that they can all use the idea of supporting and helping others who struggle with the same issues.

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