Eating Disorders and Addiction: How They Relate
Having an eating disorder can put your life at risk. Having an eating disorder coupled with addiction can increase that risk twofold. Eating disorders and addiction both compromise your nutrition and caloric intake, leading to malnutrition or weakness.
Eating disorders and addiction obviously are hugely detrimental to your health, which is why we’re here to help you get the treatment you need. When you’re ready to get well, please give our hotline a call at 888-647-0051 (Who Answers?) so we can give you tips and advice.
What Are Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders are any sort of problem with eating patterns or attitudes towards foods. You may compulsively eat or not eat, depending on what disorder you are suffering from. You might stop eating to lose weight or even throw up after a meal to rid yourself of the calories. Some of the main ones include:
Anorexia and bulimia are common eating disorders.
While eating disorders are primarily a problem in women, men can also experience all of these problems.
What Is Addiction?
Addiction comes in many forms. When you drink alcohol or use drugs, your body becomes addicted to the high. This results in actual structural changes in the brain, affecting how it functions.
While actually taking these substances is your decision, scientists have discovered that addicts have damage in the areas of the brain that control decision making and behavior control, meaning that you lose your ability to resist.
Simply taking a drug does not make you an addict. It is only when you have severe cravings for the drug and cannot control your impulses that you are deemed an addict.
Factors That Contribute to Both Eating Disorders and Addiction
To show the link between the two disorders, one study looked at women who had either an eating disorder or substance abuse disorder. Those women were four times as likely to develop the disorder they did not have than a woman who didn’t have either. What’s more, 14 percent of women with a substance abuse disorder also had either anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.
Another interesting factor that links eating disorders and addiction is depression.
Mental Health Disorders and Addiction: 5 Statements You Simply MUST Avoid When Talking to a Loved One with Dual Diagnosis
Suffering from both an addiction and a mental illness is one of the most difficult obstacles a person can face, which is why it’s important to avoid making people in this situation feel any worse.
In many cases, depression is actually the fuel behind the drive to alter eating habits or self-medicate on drugs. Many addicts and eating disorder sufferers also have low self-esteem, a fact that is especially true in adolescents.
Having a family history of either addiction or eating disorders also plays a large role in whether or not you will develop these diseases. One study looked at the drug habits of a group of children and their parents. The results showed that children mimicked the drug use behavior of their parents if they had a good relationship with their parents.
The use of alcohol or drugs might even be caused directly by an eating disorder. Studies show that the more severe a particular eating disorder is, the increase in number of substances taken. Additionally, some eating disorder suffers utilize drugs or alcohol while they are recovering from their eating disorder, leading them into more problems than before.
Regardless of what kind of eating disorders and addiction you suffer from, we can help. Our experts are able to talk about recovery and treatment options for you whenever you’re ready. Simply call us at 888-647-0051 (Who Answers?) to learn more.
