OCD, eating disorders, and sexual disorders
I was reading a report by Dr. Kafka of the Oneal Institute where he has found evidence of and speculates that eating disorders and sexual disorders are both related to Obessive Compulsive Disorders.
What he found was that people who either would binge or innapropriately starve themselves (with food or sex) that this occurred when seratonin levels were very low. Blood tests showed that bulimics blood structure and paraphile (sexual addticts) blood structure closely matched the blood structure of people suffering OCD.
While his speculations that eating and sexual disorders where a form of OCD is not fully proven, it does bring interesting observations to mind.
Overeating and overindulgence:
People who have uncontrollable overeating and people who have overindulgence issues seem to have the same feelings and impulses. A person knows that there is a chocolate cake in the fridge and begins to dwell on the cake. The decision is made to just get a taste. Then do to years of habit and emotional eating, the small taste transforms in the mind into a full blown craving and an impulse that one must have it. Soon most of the whole cake is gone, at the same time a thrill of self indulgence rushes throug the body as the body releases pleasure hormones. Even though the person is physically full, the addiction to the hormonal releases and thrill and pleasure pushes the person to continue to eat even after they are full. To binge.
This same exact thing happens with the sexual addict as well- the exact feelings and motivations of why the sexual addict binges are the same as the food binging. The person realizes he has access to a woman ( or porn etc) and it sits in his mind and he dwells on it. Then he decides he will just talk to her (have a taste), that little bit of talking suddenly grows in his mind to a full blown craving for this other person as the body is dumping pleasure hormones in his system. Soon he has lost control and is crossing the line. binging sexually.
The food binger knows the consequences of their actions and ignores them (obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, depression, loss of relationships, etc) and the sexual addict does the exact same thing (risk of disease, loss of relationship, legal problems, etc.)
After the binge both groups exerience tremendous guilt and self loathing. Feeling helpless and angry at themselves and vowing to never to do so again. But when that chocolate cake comes back the whole cycle starts over. (which beleive it or not is also the same for meth addiction)
For the food addict the myth is if I have a huge weight loss then I will not have these problems any more. The food addict may even develop bulimia or anorexia as a emotional response to their food addictions. Just as the sexual addict may pursue absolute abstinance, self flagellation / cutting / burning in a self harming effort to free themselves.
The myth is this: reaching a weight goal (or remaining sexual controlled) for a certain period of time does not cure the problem. And worse many people who have one form of this addiction many times have both. So that food addiction can drive sexual addiction and vice versa. Because the whole problem lies in the need of the individual to keep those pleasure hormones flowing. But every time a person gives in and abuses these hormones through overindulgence the more loss of enjoyment the person has and needs a larger and larger amount of the same hormones to achieve the same effect. To where eventually neither sex nor food is really enjoyable- but the person cannot stop they have found themsleves trapped in the pain of gluttony.
Treatment of this.
Treatment for these behaviors has several components.
1. physical boundaries: One has to take steps to have physical boundaries in place to keep themselves from being overwhelmed. Such as keeping a schedule, removing triggers from the house, avoiding places, activities, and people that trigger.
2. don't be alone. friends are needed to help you stay on track.
3. get plenty of sleep and exercise. Sedentary lifestyles and sleep deprivation both lead to overindulgence.
4. keep busy. idle hands is the devil's workshop
5. get educated. Make your health a focal point of your education- think of your health like an investment. What gives the best return?
6. get professional help: Most addictions are traced back to pain, injury, anger, or abuse. Why does a person does this to themselves. In somecases medications can be of help in dealing with imbalances of your body's chemicals. Such as seratonin and dopamine.
7. group therapy. going through group therapy will help you talk out and learn new solutions to your challenges.
What he found was that people who either would binge or innapropriately starve themselves (with food or sex) that this occurred when seratonin levels were very low. Blood tests showed that bulimics blood structure and paraphile (sexual addticts) blood structure closely matched the blood structure of people suffering OCD.
While his speculations that eating and sexual disorders where a form of OCD is not fully proven, it does bring interesting observations to mind.
Overeating and overindulgence:
People who have uncontrollable overeating and people who have overindulgence issues seem to have the same feelings and impulses. A person knows that there is a chocolate cake in the fridge and begins to dwell on the cake. The decision is made to just get a taste. Then do to years of habit and emotional eating, the small taste transforms in the mind into a full blown craving and an impulse that one must have it. Soon most of the whole cake is gone, at the same time a thrill of self indulgence rushes throug the body as the body releases pleasure hormones. Even though the person is physically full, the addiction to the hormonal releases and thrill and pleasure pushes the person to continue to eat even after they are full. To binge.
This same exact thing happens with the sexual addict as well- the exact feelings and motivations of why the sexual addict binges are the same as the food binging. The person realizes he has access to a woman ( or porn etc) and it sits in his mind and he dwells on it. Then he decides he will just talk to her (have a taste), that little bit of talking suddenly grows in his mind to a full blown craving for this other person as the body is dumping pleasure hormones in his system. Soon he has lost control and is crossing the line. binging sexually.
The food binger knows the consequences of their actions and ignores them (obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, depression, loss of relationships, etc) and the sexual addict does the exact same thing (risk of disease, loss of relationship, legal problems, etc.)
After the binge both groups exerience tremendous guilt and self loathing. Feeling helpless and angry at themselves and vowing to never to do so again. But when that chocolate cake comes back the whole cycle starts over. (which beleive it or not is also the same for meth addiction)
For the food addict the myth is if I have a huge weight loss then I will not have these problems any more. The food addict may even develop bulimia or anorexia as a emotional response to their food addictions. Just as the sexual addict may pursue absolute abstinance, self flagellation / cutting / burning in a self harming effort to free themselves.
The myth is this: reaching a weight goal (or remaining sexual controlled) for a certain period of time does not cure the problem. And worse many people who have one form of this addiction many times have both. So that food addiction can drive sexual addiction and vice versa. Because the whole problem lies in the need of the individual to keep those pleasure hormones flowing. But every time a person gives in and abuses these hormones through overindulgence the more loss of enjoyment the person has and needs a larger and larger amount of the same hormones to achieve the same effect. To where eventually neither sex nor food is really enjoyable- but the person cannot stop they have found themsleves trapped in the pain of gluttony.
Treatment of this.
Treatment for these behaviors has several components.
1. physical boundaries: One has to take steps to have physical boundaries in place to keep themselves from being overwhelmed. Such as keeping a schedule, removing triggers from the house, avoiding places, activities, and people that trigger.
2. don't be alone. friends are needed to help you stay on track.
3. get plenty of sleep and exercise. Sedentary lifestyles and sleep deprivation both lead to overindulgence.
4. keep busy. idle hands is the devil's workshop
5. get educated. Make your health a focal point of your education- think of your health like an investment. What gives the best return?
6. get professional help: Most addictions are traced back to pain, injury, anger, or abuse. Why does a person does this to themselves. In somecases medications can be of help in dealing with imbalances of your body's chemicals. Such as seratonin and dopamine.
7. group therapy. going through group therapy will help you talk out and learn new solutions to your challenges.
I found this interesting. I came up OCPD in my psych eval and in my opinion this makes sense. I am betting my husband wishes that it applied more to binge eating though!
Surgeon: Chengelis Surgery on 12/19/2011 A little less carb eating compared to my weight loss phase loose sleever here!
1Mo: -21 2Mo: -16 3Mo: -12 4MO - 13 5MO: -11 6MO: -10 7MO: -10.3 8MO: -6 Goal in 8 months 4 days!! 6' 2'' EWL 103% Starting size 28 or 4x (tight) now size 12 or large, shoe size 12 w to 10.5 150+ pounds lost
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Here is one of the articles I read.
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/19/magazine/how-do-you-cure-a -sex-addict.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/19/magazine/how-do-you-cure-a -sex-addict.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
Very interesting and the part about how food addiction manifests itself seems to be my experience with food over the years. I just wrote about struggling, and one of the things I have noted is that I haven't been getting enough sleep, so my serotonin levels may be low. Whether or not food addiction is related to OCD, the information and treatment recommendations certainly ring true. Thanks for posting!
HW (recorded) 323 Start of Journey 298.9 SW 263.6 CW 177.8 GW 180
I suffer from moderate OCD and have for years. I'm medicated, but that still doesn't keep the unwanted thoughts and rituals out of my head. I'm also here because I'm going to have the surgery because I am a compulsive overeater, so I definitely see what your getting at. Just tonight, I was doing a ritual that I thought I had stopped doing, but tonight was stressful for me, so I ended up doing it. I just hope that when I lose all of my excess weight that my OCD demons don't decide to wreck havoc on my mind.
Highest Weight ~400, Surgery Weight 293, Current Weight 227, Goal Weight 180
Highest BMI: 59.1, Current BMI: 32, Goal BMI: 25
VSG on February 20, 2017
The surgery is only a tool. It helps me by providing a physical boundary to what I would otherwise do.
But after the surgery there are ways around the limitations- even though I cannot eat large meals. The surgery does not stop high calorie drinks, chips, cookies, or ice creams. So my pouch size doesn't really do a lot to stop overeating on those types of foods. (but becuase I cannot burp normally after my surgery, I do not drink anything carbonated. So I haven't had a soda in over a year now.)
Plus you can also overeat and fill up your esophogous and even condition yourself to use the pain and stuffed sensation of an over stuffed esophogous as your new fullness level.
So maintaining mental discipline is the key- and as you know part of that discipline is having people to talk about with it. To plan out goals and rewards and hold yourself accountable. And to work on the underlying reasons why we do what we do.
Not to preach to you but the bible has a verse about this: The man who isolates himself, destroys himself.
But after the surgery there are ways around the limitations- even though I cannot eat large meals. The surgery does not stop high calorie drinks, chips, cookies, or ice creams. So my pouch size doesn't really do a lot to stop overeating on those types of foods. (but becuase I cannot burp normally after my surgery, I do not drink anything carbonated. So I haven't had a soda in over a year now.)
Plus you can also overeat and fill up your esophogous and even condition yourself to use the pain and stuffed sensation of an over stuffed esophogous as your new fullness level.
So maintaining mental discipline is the key- and as you know part of that discipline is having people to talk about with it. To plan out goals and rewards and hold yourself accountable. And to work on the underlying reasons why we do what we do.
Not to preach to you but the bible has a verse about this: The man who isolates himself, destroys himself.
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