Alcohol & Food Addiction

Both alcohol addiction and food addiction can cause serious problems in a person's life. The addictions entail psychological cravings for the substance of choice, which is often used as a placebo for deeper psychological issues; the addictions also create problems in the patient's personal life and can often lead to other conditions such as bulimia or high blood pressure. Both are challenging to overcome, but can be defeated if the patient is dedicated to getting well.

Food Addiction

• Food addiction is often defined by a fixation and obsession with food. Addicts eat compulsively in order to calm themselves and tend to eat all available food, even if they aren't hungry anymore. Obesity is a common result, though some food addicts can be severely underweight. (This can stem from purging after overeating, as a way of assuaging feelings of guilt.) In either case, significant emotional problems can stem from the addiction to food.

Alcohol Addiction

• Alcohol addiction should be distinguished from alcohol abuse (which is simply drinking to excess) by the psychological compulsions involved. Stress, anxiety or underlying emotional trauma cause the addict to turn to alcohol in order to feel "normal." Over time, a tolerance can develop, whereby the alcoholic drinks increasing amounts in order to attain the same effect. Physical changes in the body can cement the addiction, leaving the patient unable to function without alcohol.

Similarities

• Both food addiction and alcohol addiction entail a loss of control over the individual's habits. Many times, addicts will drink or eat in secret, stashing supplies of their addictive substance in hidden places and lying about how much or how often they eat or drink. Both conditions also involve copious amounts of the given substance: Alcoholics will often imbibe large amounts, whereas food addicts will eat entire packages of food.

Attendant Conditions

• Alcohol addiction and food addiction can set off a vicious cycle as the substance creates emotional disorders, which in turn cause addicts to turn back to food or alcohol. Personal and professional life may suffer under the secrets and deception surrounding the addiction, as well. Chances of strokes or heart attacks increase as obesity and/or cardiovascular damage take their toll, and many addicts develop gastrointestinal problems created by the stress on stomach and intestines.

Treatment

• Treatment of food and alcohol addiction begins with confronting the problem: acknowledging the condition and resolving to do something about it. Recovery from alcohol addiction may entail physical withdrawal symptoms such as nausea or the shakes. The patient must adopt certain lifestyle changes in order to resist the cravings created by his condition, and should speak to a professional therapist in order to identify and resolve the underlying issues that created the addiction in the first place. Rehab centers and 12-step programs for both types of addiction can help addicts along the road to recovery.