What to do if you suspect you have an eating disorder.

I'm glad you're seeking help. Your focus should be on getting help and your WL needs to be secondary to that. If possible try to find a therapist who supports a non-diet mentality and work with a non-diet registered dietician as well. It has changed my life.

I am so sorry you have been through all that, Melody. :( We absolutely can develop anorexia while being obese or overweight. They are not mutually exclusive, and this is getting more recognition now.

I'm a therapist who sees a therapist myself. The hardest part is going, but you are already taking the first steps to do it.

Donna

Hi Donna:

I am so glad you opened up this topic and brought to light what many of us don't like to admit . . . that many of us who became MO and require WLS have underlying psychiatric problems that led us to where we are.

In my profession, there is an extremely strong stigma associated with psychiatric illness among co-workers. It is really shameful.

Early in my career, I learned to "skip over" discussing parts of my life with colleagues that could in any way reveal that I have any psychiatric illnesses. Why? Because early on, I decided to be completely open and honest at job interviews about a period of time I left my chosen profession and worked in a related field because I was dealing with severe depression.

On more than one occasion, the interviews, which generally would be going well, would abruptly end. I would be shown the door once I mentioned that I had a history of depression, even though I was being treated for it and doing well.

Unfortunately, the problem with obesity is that you can't just "skip over" discussing this part of your life. The illness of obesity is apparent to anyone who is able to see that individual.

Thank you for letting me vent.

I also have a few questions for you, Donna. In your professional opinion, do you believe that food addiction exists? Do you think a person with a substance abuse problem can be cross-addicted to food? Is food addiction the same as binge eating?

Also, thank you for the reference you provided for DBT. I am going to buy it online as soon as I finish this post.

Thanks again, Donna!

---Joyce

It's always behavior that drives obesity. It's rarely about just eating excess calories. Not everyone has an eating disorder by any means, but we all have issues being human. It's a by product of humanity.

Food addiction absolutely exists, without a doubt. I think many of us who may not meet eating disorder criteria might have it. Addictions are tricky things because you can develop a transfer addiction. Say you stop taking opioids you have been addicted to, but you eat or gamble instead to replace it. Those are transfer addictions. Two very common ones after bariatric surgery are alcohol and also caffeine.

Food addiction is different than BED but is treated the same in some instances. It's considered a process addiction, but some researchers are now stating it's also a chemical one, as well. I don't believe it's well understood. Dr. Ashley Gearhardt at the University of Michigan is one of the people studying it as its own phenomenon.