Food addiction - podcast episode

you don't have to get sick or barf to have binge eating disorder.

I found this page that has a good list of what is considered binge eating disorder.

I agree- I did overeat all the time- that is a disorder.

Well hello there! :)

Hey Deanna!
I agree with your link.
For me, abnormal eating is all about the feelings: I used food to make the world feel smaller and less threatening, and to make me feel 'larger', safer...more comforted.

It's a great page, but I am biased, as several friends and colleagues work there :) TK is actually one of the best treatment programs in the country for EDs, though I feel most places still lag behind for BED, sadly.

Post-op BED is different than pre-op. Hopefully the research will continue to catch up so we all benefit.

I think there was studies and MRI pictures showing that sugar can be more addictive than cocaine- sugar activated the same addiction centers in the brain, and affected them stronger and longer than cocaine did. so yes- Sugar can be and is addictive. Plus other foods. Mainly carbs - or high carbs with high fat foods combination (donuts, cakes and candies)

I definitely struggled with food addictions, and also self medicated with food to soothe myself, pre op.

I recently bought some fibre gummies and can't keep them in the house because they triggered me to obsess over wanting gummies. I even googled recipes for sugar free low carb gummies. I've been sick for 2 weeks so didn't go out and buy the ingredients. I never cared for gummies pre op but for some reason the taste and texture of those fibre gummies just drove me crazy, lol.

The podcast is quite excellent. Thank you for sharing :)

I do think food addiction is real, and separate, from eating disorders. Why?

Eating disorders typically develop after traumatic experiences (most commonly, though not always) and they tend to be addictions as well - to control, specifically. In fact, eating disorders and addictions are highly co-morbid. However, a lot of what I see described as BED more falls into addictive behavior, rather than BED behavior. Having said that, diagnosing is also weird and not very tidy, and it's an art-based science that is difficult, important, and meaningless concurrently. The main reason we have to diagnose is to bill insurance, actually, so the specifics don't necessarily matter. Some therapists don't even diagnose, particularly if they take cash, but that's a tangent...

At any rate, in the case of BED and bulimia, a significant characteristic is a loss of control experience and isolation while eating. Many also may feel a disconnect whilst binging or overeating - sort of like being "high." Overeating due to anxiety or depression are not typically an eating disorder, actually, and are more likely to be food addiction. It is actually tricky to assess. I typically look for losses of control over volume and frequency, actually, because that is the main underlying mechanism of a binge, rather than the actual eating. This is lost on many therapists, who often will just look at eating. Again, the details both concurrently matter and are meaningless; what matters is treating the person's needs rather than putting them into a box. Again, a tangent of mine...

The reason these distinctions are vital, is because treatment is similar, but varies with both. Also true eating disorders typically need more comprehensive care. Often individuals, even when not overweight or underweight, have severe physical comorbid conditions which impact their health. PTSD also occurs at much higher rates, as do histories of trauma and abuse. They require skill to treat, and (sadly) many clinicians and psychiatrists won't necessarily treat us because we are often "hard cases." It involves a very delicate hand, and often we must be in therapy for extended periods of time on and off for our entire lives.