LadyBug66

I love to watch this show. Not sure why but I do... also love to watch Hoarders.... back to My 600 lb life. I was watching it last night and that poor woman weighed 725 lbs. When she talked about her eating disorder it made me think about drinking. Notice if you have an issue with eating it's a "disorder" if it's with alcohol it's a "problem"? She said that when she feels anxiety about all the problems in her life that stem from her weight she eats and it temporary makes the anxiety go away for a short time and then comes back in full force and worse. It's the same with drinking. We drink to make us feel better for a short time and then we feel worse than when we took that drink. Day 16 for me.

Offthemast

My heart goes out to people that big. Talk about looking at what seems like an insurmountable mountain to climb.

julietUK

I know what you mean. Addiction in all its various forms is an evil. The things we are all addicted to differ but the mentality is just the same. Hate yourself for doing it, ruins your life, but feel marginally better when doing it. Poor women. Well done on day 16. Keep it up.

EliL

I believe it is called alcohol use disorder it seems to me that people just make up heir own labels?! Well I would rather be struggling to get sober after 20 years of drinking than trying to get back from 725lbs!

It makes me think about the disease model and then making a program about Cancer, so you’re sat there watching some 18 year old choke out his last from lung cancer and the person next to you says yup it’s a disease just like my alcoholism; I think my chin would hit the floor!

Like they say though addiction is addiction.

LateBloominCait

I watch them too and find them fascinating. I always feel badly for the subjects but even more so their families. I used to watch Intervention for the same reason but I think it started to hit too close to home, so I stopped. Denial, right? I'm sure part of what I like about those shows is the feeling deep down that I'm not as bad off as they are. Curiosity is also a part of it, but I think it makes me feel better about myself as well. I also enjoy home improvement shows like HGTV but I don't enjoy those for the same reason. Thanks for making me think about that in a new way.

LateBloominCait

I will say that I think food addiction really is different from alcohol in one fundamental way. You need to eat to live. Part of the recovery from food addiction involves using a small amount of your drug of choice everyday. In that sense, it is more of a disorder because dealing with it daily can't be helped. You can live an entire life from beginning to end for 80 years and never touch alcohol. Not that it makes the addiction part any less significant in my opinion, but it makes the treatment options very different and even more challenging.

I agree that both addictions are equally debilitating to your life when they get out of control, but in different ways.

treeguy24

I don't like labeling. Addiction is addiction no matter what way you look at it and it can come in various forms. You could call it a disorder, illness, problem, etc. but it still is what it is.

I even heard that now they want to make playing too much video games a mental disorder. I mean really? I mean I guess one could argue you could get "addicted" to playing video games but it's not nearly the same as drugs or alcohol.

Sohard

This isn't accurate at all. I'm a teacher and I've seen the truly devastating effects of technology addiction (I mean real addiction, not just a kid liking a couple of iPad games). Yes, in the same way Phillip Morris sought to make cigarettes addictive, many of these video game companies have hired scientists for the exact same reason. And they are focusing on the growing child's brain, devastating their development. It should be criminal. These addictions activate real parts of your brain and are real illnesses. In the same way I would never want someone to judge or question my alcohol use disorder, as it's officially called now, we should be very careful of judging - or questioning - someone's technology addiction. In going with the original poster's point, in many ways a true tech addiction is actually particularly challenging (like food) because in 2018 you can't ban it from your life but need to learn to moderate, which is something I could never do with alcohol. We ask of tech addicted people what we can't do ourselves. They are in a really impossible situation. And they are doubted, as people with alcohol addictions were in previous generations. Let's stop making the same mistake.

DesertDawg

Ha Ha!
In fairness, I think the clinical name for what ails "us" is Alcohol Use Disorder; conversely, it wouldn't be incorrect to say the people on those shows have a *problem* with eating.

treeguy24

I'm not denying that technology addiction isn't an issue because the first thing that comes to mind is smart phones. But in the case of a child where do the parents come in? Is it not the responsibility of a parent to set boundaries. We are not talking about technology as a whole we are talking about video games.

I agree technology "addiction" is a big issue. So much so that it interferes with everyday life, such as texting while driving or checking Facebook while driving etc.

And it is not the same as drug or alcohol dependence.

The problem with technology is it can be extremely useful and beneficial but it has become the prime focus for many people. Cell phones in particular.

gatorman

Agree totally.

WinterThunder

The food is her drug of choice.

WinterThunder

They rig the smartphone games like slot machines to give kids that little shot of dopamine. Then they make them wait two minutes to play again OR the kids can purchase little trinkets for like 99 cents to keep playing without the calling off period.

And on and on it goes. It's all intentional.

The game makers are rolling in cash because of this business model. At least when we were kids we had to physically go somewhere and put actual money in the machines, which was sort of a buffer.

whopper

I watch this show as well, My 600 lb life. I never knew there are many people out there with massive weight problems. Many of the folks on the show weigh much more than 600 lbs. I've seen some that weigh over 800lbs. I find it sad to see people get that large and become bed ridden. But I also watch this show because a part of me tells myself at least I am not in that state of health and immobility. In other words I can at least feel that the position that I am in is not as bad as I make it out to be. Not that I look down on the people on the show in anyway.

Delilah1

I think addiction to anything has the same underlying issues, food, alcohol, drugs...

I like that show too, I always root for them to change their lives and start again.

LadyBug66

So So True! A person can just say no to alcohol but you can't just say no to food because you have to eat to live. Food addiction (in my opinion) would be worse because everyone can see it on you ... you can hide alcohol addiction to a degree.

zjw

what i learned when i got sober from alcohol enabled me to quit smoking and to loose the weight i could never get off.

If your winning your alcohol addiction but loosing your food addiction think about what keeps you sober and use that to help yourself in other areas.

I often feel people who have food addictions could benefit from an AA meeting and yes i know theres over eaters anonymous and such but sadly I dont think there is enough of that to help heavy people. and lets face it it sure is hard wondering into one of these meetings that first time *Sigh* but sometimes it has to be done.

these days I worry i've headed the other direction however. I tend to not eat now as a result of my sterss *gulp*

zjw

just to add too eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes too. you could be stick thin and have one too.

LadyBug66

True

ryry77

I hope nobody make fun of the overweight people because I seriously doubt they are making fun of you!!! We all have issues!!!