Addiction

All addictions are the same in content whether it be:- alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, internet, gaming, spending, food or relationships.  Once a person has become addicted to something then the only way to get clean from that addiction is total abstinence from that addiction. To do that the person will generally need addiction counselling.

That’s very difficult to understand and grasp. Asking someone not to have another drink is not what the person wants to hear.  However – every time the alcoholic picks up a drink it leads to a second and a third drink – and so on – until there is a negative consequence.

In the case of alcohol – an alcoholic can live their life without the need for alcohol.  Other nonalcoholic drinks are plentiful, and the body does not need alcohol.

What about a Food Addiction?  A food addict can’t stop eating food! Food is needed to fuel the body.  In the case of Compulsive Overeating – this is a form of Food Addiction.  The person eats “comfort foods” – the food is of no value – the sugar in the food gives the person a “high” and acts as a short term comfort to the person’s issues and then the body stores the unwanted food as fat – hence the weight gain and a vicious circle of behaviour leading to negative consequences.

Being in recovery from a Compulsive Eating Addiction the client needs to identify their “trigger foods” and remove them from the diet – much the same as an alcoholic must remove the alcohol from their life.  Once this is done the body learns to survive off good foods and then their weight will normalize.  My job with the client is to help them manage this and then use psychotherapy to explore what is making the person feel unhappy in their life and therefore using food to comfort themselves.

At Addiction Care – I help clients with all forms of addiction.  It’s face to face and it’s totally confidential.

Contact me now and let’s have that first chat.