Is Over Eating An Addiction

Over eating is a form of comfort,I know I should eat less,but I find great comfort in food. It also goes back to my childhood, my mum always bought us treats to watch TV with. My daughter is the opposite, she is very slim,and doesn't understand at all. Many people will say you need to lose weight,so stop eating! It isn't that simple!

I have seen TV programmes and read recently in the press and books that most of us do not sleep enough these days. There are good reasons for that old adage saying we need 8 hours a night.

One of the reasons is that the control of hormones and other chemical messengers which the brain undertakes during the night affects our hunger in the following day. Apparently it is much easier to limit food intake if we have had a good night's sleep. Might checking this out help some of the posters on this thread?

Over-eating can be both a matter of sheer greed, or quite definitely an addiction, and if it's the latter then it's hard to break irrespective of whether the individual is intelligent or stupid. The urge to overeat in a stressful situation is a physical reaction to the hormonal changes brought about by stress/emotional turmoil. Willpower can overcome pure greed, but when overeating results from emotional difficulties, willpower alone is not enough, and support needs to come from other people and in many different forms to try to re-educate those who do suffer this way to change their behaviour. There is abundant evidence of the overeating/weight gain problem among older women who themselves have caring responsibilities for even older relatives, usually their parents. As a woman in my late 60s caring for a mother in her early 90s who has multiple medical problems and advanced dementia, I speak from experience of my own weight gain of 2 stone since being in the stressful caring role, and that of many other women in the same position.

Hi KayR see this www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/what-is-the-168-diet. Eating for 8 hours and not for the remainder of a 24 hour day.
MawBroon, your comment re gluttony seems quite judgmental for someone really asking for help (which this forum is brilliant at giving) corner gran you are lovely and I too send serkeen a big hug

There are many explanations with a basis in psychological theory.

One theory is that it is a pattern of behaviour which can be broken by introducing a new pattern of behaviour at times when you do over-eat. Cognitive behaviour therapy might help if you can get help or perhaps read up about it.

Another theory is that it is a behaviour that is being used as a reward and we may have learnt this in childhood with food rewards for being good or achieving at school therefore we associate food with feelings of happiness about our parents’ love and approval. This may be broken by finding a new reward to substitute for food but if it stems from childhood it can be deeply ingrained and hard to break because every time we use food as a reward we are reinforcing the behaviour.

Another theory is that food is being used to fill an emptiness deep inside and some sort of therapy is needed to address and resolve the issue.

It could be an addiction in some cases and if sugary foods are being turned to.

I hope you are able to overcome this because it is clearly bothering you.

I was hoping it was the reverse Jane10 - 16 hours of eating, 8 hours not.

KayR. It is a very well researched way of giving the body time to recover and repair by giving it 16 hours a day without any demand on the digestive system. Basically, it means that all meals are consumed with 8 hours. In my case that means between 12pm and 8pm. I don't have to faff about with calories or avoiding carbs etc. The only time I'm aware of not eating is missing my breakfast but thats just a habit.
Having been brought up to think that we must all eat at very regular intervals, this 'fasting' approach was extremely counter intuitive but reading the academic research underpinning it I tried it and it works. My BP plummeted and I definitely felt better and had more energy. DH has just shrunk. His clothes hang on him and he is the toast of the medical centre (well he says he is!).
Its radical but flexible and it works!

No nor have I KayR. I used to comfort eat a lot. But manage to get it under control a bit, I call it grazing anyway.
I try and eat fruit.

Serkeen I also went through a period exactly like you are describing, so I know how difficult it is to get out of, and how distressing. I used to eat everything in sight, then feel disgusted with myself (plus, of course, I put on a lot of weight and found myself gross, which just added to the problem). I think it is too easy for people who have never faced this to imply thta it is simply a matter of self-control.

Why not look at www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/support-services, which is the eating disorder charity, which might provide some helpful advice. Please feel free to PM me if that would be useful.

What is the 16:8 system? Sorry, I've never heard of that one!

Yes, me too. That is why they call it 'comfort eating'. My daughter in law sadly died 4 years ago (November 11th) and I have put on 2 stone since then ... and this time of year reminds me of her last days and I keep 'rewarding' myself with food... not great

Whatever it is I've got it!!!!

I eat for something to do and no amount of other distractions help. I tred hypnosis years ago and t worked really well, so am trying that again.

I read somewhere that "addiction" can be identified by behaviour eg. if someone is prepared to turn out on a winter's night to get some alcohol, chocolate, whatever, because they want it that much, then they are addicted. If they look in the fridge for something they fancy, don't find it so give up, that is not addiction. But we all anaesthetise ourselves to some extent after a bad day or if we are lonely or unhappy, whether that be a glass or two of wine or food. It's all in the degree.

I also think it is not an addiction. If we have an addiction we can think of ourselves as ill and therefore not to blame.

I speak as someone who has a condition which means that if I eat a normal diet I put on weight so I do know how hard it is. I am a little overweight but not obese. Yes, I am tempted a lot of the time buy I make sure there is nothing 'bad' in the house so I can't eat it. I get nibbly in the evenings to try to eat healthy things like apples.

My discipline, such as it is, is to try to eat very sensibly at home but when we go out to have whatever I like so it really become a treat.

Like so many of us I smoked heavily back in the 60s but gave up once we knew it was harmful. We all did that without the help of patches etc. I think nowadays people need more help because it is available and therefore self control is lacking.

If it's not in the house you can't eat it! I always found it easier to eat less when I was working as any treats were a mile walk away so all I had was my packed lunch.
Now I've retired I try not to stock up on unhealthy food - and we all know what that is. Currently I'm back on the 16:8 system. My stomach is rumbling but I know I can keep it feeling OK with a cup of mint tea. After a few days it just becomes a habit. DH has lost a ridiculous amount of of weight on it.
Good luck Serkeen your control lies in your shopping basket!

I meant to ask re the OP (genuine question) - how can anyone carry on eating when they are full? There's little worse than being uncomfortable because you are feeling stuffed. So that would be my "brake".

SueDonim that's interesting/amazing really that student medics are taught that eating and gambling disorders are not true addictions - I work part time for a charity that does addiction training and we are frequently asked (including by GPs) for a training session on behavioural addictions such as e.g. gambling.

I would argue that they definitely have physical symptoms (albeit indirectly), I have a SIL who is addicted to gambling and I have seen her being physically ill after heavy losses.

Hi Sekeen, if it's lots of sweet and sugary foods you are overeating. I believe that sugar can be addictive, in as much as you can get cravings for it.
Sugary food is also usually the "go to" food with emotional overeating.
I now Try to have just the occasional treat as if I have a packet of biscuits in the house I would eat the lot.

I'm another who puts over eating in the category of things that we have control over, that we use either as a reward of as a distraction from worries. Cigarette smoking is a classic example, it's enjoyable or none of us would ever do it. Yes, I'm a reformed non smoker and so relieved I stopped (not for the first but I do hope for the last time)

Most of us enjoy alcohol regularly and in moderation. I suspect we all know functioning alcoholics who have gradually built up a ridiculous tolerance to alcohol and now reached the stage where large amounts have become a daily necessity. As with over eating, I suspect those people realise they're drinking far too much and would benefit from taking some control over their lives.
Apologies for sounding preachy but over indulgence is fun but our own responsibility.

I agree withMOnica it's one of the ways we find of dealing with difficulties in our lives. Not an addiction in the true sense. I tend to reward myself with food especially chocolate, its something I try to curb but fruit and salad do not have the same appeal. I must find treats other than food, maybe this is something to think about Serkeen

I think it can be somewhere between a habit; a 'naughtiness'; a comfort ; self destruction - it goes round and round .

A relative of H's sadly died in his 20s due to Prada Willi.

When I'm upset or down I go right off food rather than over eat. Even when things are fine I don't have the appetite I used too.

Good distinction suedonim

One of my children is a student medic and they're taught that over-eating & gambling etc are not true addictions because they do not have physical characteristics.

I wonder nowadays if part of the problem with food is its sheer availability. It's hard to avoid seeing it, either in real life or in the media. Maybe when we weren't constantly bombarded with food images, we didn't think of it so often.

Nobody said it was an addiction if you reread my post more carefully.