Some of you have already been thinking this and asking me about this, so I am going to put it out there. Is this an eating disorder or an addiction? Good question, and we need to address and identify what the differences are, if any.
I agree there are many overlapping symptoms between eating disorders and addictions. I guess it's lucky for us again, then, that I happen to have my handy, dandy copy of the DSM-5 right here. The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is the reference mental health professionals use to diagnose mental health disorders.
Not all eating disorders are created equal, but they do have some common traits. These traits include significantly altered body weight and obsession with the way you look or the fear of gaining weight. If you're bulimic, you might not show the low body weight, but you will have the same obsession with body image accompanied by times of binging followed by purging your binge. I cannot diagnose you with an eating disorder via this blog, but if these questions are making you ask yourself if you actually have an eating disorder, please use this free pre-screening tool provided by the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).
Now, many of you might remember when I asked you some pre-screening questions for addiction that ended up being from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. As you can see, there are many differences between addiction and eating disorder, namely the inability to stop eating foods that are causing significant functional impairment. Additionally, eating disorders and addictions are two different categories of mental illnesses and cannot be treated the same. Overeating, binge eating, purging, anorexia and the like are eating disorders. My contention is that it's not the key elements that drive eating disorders (distorted thinking about body, fear of weight gain/loss, disturbance of one's body view) that drive food addiction. It is my contention that people that want to stop eating and can't that DON'T meet the qualifications for eating disorder and are experiencing addiction symptoms are actually addicted to some contents of food products.
I propose that there is actually an addiction to processed foods and specific food types that more closely mirror addiction than eating disorder. My contention is also that food addiction requires its own treatment program since one cannot simply stop eating, as would be expected of a substance or alcohol abuse treatment program. This viewpoint is highly controversial because our society all around us eats these food products. If you thinking about what you're eating really hard, you can display some characteristics of eating disorder simply because you're surrounded by things that are bad for you, and you don't want to eat them. See how tricky this is? That's why I believe it's really important that you have therapeutic guidance on this journey, so please, please please, get a therapist for this journey. I looked all over Youtube to find something, anything, talking about food addiction, but I couldn't find it. I couldn't find anything that wasn't actually talking about eating disorder. I don't have eating disorder. I have food addiction. So, instead, I'm going to share a video on sugar addiction. Because this doctor actually says the words: "This addiction is NOT eating disorder." YES! Someone gets it! I have addiction, not an eating disorder.
Now, the point of us doing all this planning before we talked about this hard stuff is so that you have some tools for the struggle. Because you will struggle. What did I say last time? You will relapse. Remember why relapse is progress and adjust the plan and move on. If you're struggling with self harming or suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the Suicide hotline (1-800-273-8255). Always feel free to use our chat or 7 cups just to have someone to talk to. We're in this together. Jess
I agree there are many overlapping symptoms between eating disorders and addictions. I guess it's lucky for us again, then, that I happen to have my handy, dandy copy of the DSM-5 right here. The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is the reference mental health professionals use to diagnose mental health disorders.
Not all eating disorders are created equal, but they do have some common traits. These traits include significantly altered body weight and obsession with the way you look or the fear of gaining weight. If you're bulimic, you might not show the low body weight, but you will have the same obsession with body image accompanied by times of binging followed by purging your binge. I cannot diagnose you with an eating disorder via this blog, but if these questions are making you ask yourself if you actually have an eating disorder, please use this free pre-screening tool provided by the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).
Now, many of you might remember when I asked you some pre-screening questions for addiction that ended up being from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. As you can see, there are many differences between addiction and eating disorder, namely the inability to stop eating foods that are causing significant functional impairment. Additionally, eating disorders and addictions are two different categories of mental illnesses and cannot be treated the same. Overeating, binge eating, purging, anorexia and the like are eating disorders. My contention is that it's not the key elements that drive eating disorders (distorted thinking about body, fear of weight gain/loss, disturbance of one's body view) that drive food addiction. It is my contention that people that want to stop eating and can't that DON'T meet the qualifications for eating disorder and are experiencing addiction symptoms are actually addicted to some contents of food products.
I propose that there is actually an addiction to processed foods and specific food types that more closely mirror addiction than eating disorder. My contention is also that food addiction requires its own treatment program since one cannot simply stop eating, as would be expected of a substance or alcohol abuse treatment program. This viewpoint is highly controversial because our society all around us eats these food products. If you thinking about what you're eating really hard, you can display some characteristics of eating disorder simply because you're surrounded by things that are bad for you, and you don't want to eat them. See how tricky this is? That's why I believe it's really important that you have therapeutic guidance on this journey, so please, please please, get a therapist for this journey. I looked all over Youtube to find something, anything, talking about food addiction, but I couldn't find it. I couldn't find anything that wasn't actually talking about eating disorder. I don't have eating disorder. I have food addiction. So, instead, I'm going to share a video on sugar addiction. Because this doctor actually says the words: "This addiction is NOT eating disorder." YES! Someone gets it! I have addiction, not an eating disorder.
Now, the point of us doing all this planning before we talked about this hard stuff is so that you have some tools for the struggle. Because you will struggle. What did I say last time? You will relapse. Remember why relapse is progress and adjust the plan and move on. If you're struggling with self harming or suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the Suicide hotline (1-800-273-8255). Always feel free to use our chat or 7 cups just to have someone to talk to. We're in this together. Jess
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