Even While Getting Ready To Sleep You Feel The Need To Check Your Phone
Addicted people want to check their phones all the time, even while they are preparing to go to sleep.
They will then be in their beds and using their phones until they fall asleep, either going through random apps or talking to someone.
Most people would spoil their whole vacation by being on their phones instead of spending quality time there and enjoying the different place that they are at.
There is no point of a vacation if you remain on your phone constantly there as well.
You might as well then just stay at your home and use your phone there, at least that would save you from wasting any money.
Signs Of Food Addiction And 8 Steps To Overcoming
Posted July 11, 2012
Can we really be addicted to food? After all, we need food to survive. Our brains are wired to experience pleasure from eating which is what motivates us to consume enough energyclearly a survival instinct. Like any substance that taps the pleasure centers in the brain though, food has the ability to over-tap those pleasure centers, creating a drive to eat that is abnormal. Recent research has shown that unusually high consumption of certain foods can induce an addictive drive to eat in laboratory rats . Processed foods have been implicated, including sugar, flour, some fats, and even salt .
Do you think you may have a food addiction? Consider the following signs.
1. Increased Consumption Over Time. Have you been steadily increasing your food intake over time? For example, do you eat significantly more on a daily basis now than you did 1 year ago? A food addict will have gradually increased their intake over time, particularly of the refined foods that I mentioned above.
2. Tolerance is when you need more and more of a substance to achieve a desired effect. Often the desired effect in food addiction is emotional, such as calm or relief from anxiety or depression. A sign of tolerance is when you begin to notice that you can consume amounts of food that are much larger than most other people can in order to feel satisfied.
What Can Be Done?
How Do You Test For Sex Addiction
Since sex addiction is not currently a formally recognized diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , there are no widely used tests or assessment tools to identify sex addiction. A mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist or a psychologist, can conduct a psychological evaluation to determine if you are showing signs of compulsive sexual behavior.
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Underlying Problems May Cause Food Addiction
Similarities between food addiction and other addictions suggest a universal process underlying food and other addictions. Some experts go further, citing overlaps, similarities, and co-occurrences of mental health problems, including addictions, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and eating disorders. There is also the phenomenon of a new addiction or mental health problem developing when an old addiction is treated, which indicates underlying pathologies. It has been argued that viewing these conditions separately hinders the development of a comprehensive view of addictions.
More evidence is needed to support these proposed ideas, and at present, professionals differ in the extent to which they see these problems as related.
You Are On Your Phone In Social Settings
Social settings and occasions are meant to be enjoyed, and the purpose of these settings is to talk to the people all around you instead of being on your phone.
However, most of the times, the people at social gatherings are glued to their phones.
If you are on your phone more often at these social gatherings, then chances are that you are addicted to your phone.
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How To Spot The Signs Of Food Addiction
Being addicted to food is just as serious as any other addiction it’s just rarely taken as seriously.
“Being a food addict isn’t very different from a normal person who overeats. The food environment we’re in today is actually pretty toxic,” says Vera Tarman, MD, MSc, FCFP, author of Food Junkies: The Truth About Food Addiction. “The food industry makes food intentionally addictive there are even some commercials that say ‘crave.’ So if a person can’t stop at one, it’s not because they’re a food addict it’s because they’re exposed to food that was made addictive.”
And if addiction runs in the family, it could make someone even more susceptible to developing an addiction themselves.
“There’s a subpopulation who gets that hook like everyone else, but then they’re vulnerable because of a previous addiction or genetics,” Dr. Tarman says. “It’s like an alcoholic who can’t put down a drink it’s similar with food. Once they get going, they can’t stop.”
Dr. Tarman uses a series of questions to determine whether someone is addicted to food or not. Some examples are below, but it’s important to note that this is not a medical diagnosis. The questions merely reflect what’s commonly seen in cases of food addiction and help gauge the likelihood of addiction.
You Crave Sugar During Or After Meals
If you cant get through dinner without thinking about dessert, theres a good chance that youre addicted to sugar! Craving sweets during or immediately after a meal can be a symptom of adrenal fatigue, SIBO , and sugar addiction.
The solution: If you think you may have adrenal fatigue, there are saliva tests that can confirm it. If you suspect you have SIBO or another form of dysbiosis, there are breath, urine, and stool tests that can reveal hidden causes of infection that could be contributing to relentless sugar cravings.
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Can A Food Addiction Be Like Other Addictions
There are many different substances that people can become addicted to, like alcohol, opioids, and tobacco. Studies have shown an overlap between substance abuse behaviors and addictive-like eating.
One important overlap is craving, an intense and frequent desire to consume something. Like with other substances, craving can apply to food. Foods high in sugar and/or fat are more likely to be eaten in a way that could be classified as addictive.
Addiction In The Elderly
4. Peer Support. Connecting with others who have the same problem is very important when overcoming an addiction. While family and friends can try to understand, it is helpful to have a peer group to vent and discuss the challenges.
5. Journaling.Stress and other negative moods are triggers for relapse in any addiction. Keeping a journal of ones eating and moods is a helpful step to gaining an understanding of how different moods affect consumption.
6. Stress Management. Developing new, more effective stress reduction strategies is essential. Relaxation exercises, meditation, music, and exercise are a few of many examples.
7. Exercise. Exercise not only reduces stress and weight, but it has also been shown to reduce food cravings, increase self-control, and reduce addictive behaviors .
8. Get Back to Living. Counseling involves identifying and planning activities that are consistent with life values and goals in order to create forward momentum towards a life that is meaningful and values-driven, and not dictated by food.
References
Avena, NM, Bocarsly,ME & Hoebel, B.G. . Animal models of sugar and fat binging: Relationship to food addiction and increased body weight. Methods of Molecular Biology, 829, 351-265.
Gearhardt, AN, Davis, C, Kuschner, R, Brownell, KD. . The addiction potential of hyperpalatable foods. Curr Drug Abuse Reviews, 4, 140-145.
Fontes-Ribeiro et al . May exercise prevent addiction? Curr Neuropharmacol, 9: 45-48.
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Food Addiction / Compulsive Overeating
1. Do you eat when you are very happy, very upset, or experience any other strong emotion? 2. Do you feel guilty or embarrassed about the way you eat? 3. Do you eat even when youre not hungry? 4. Do you fantasize about being thin? 5. Do you deprive yourself of food to feel good, to feel in control, or to punish yourself? 6. Do you keep eating even after youre full or even after you feel sick? 7. Do you sometimes binge? 8. Do you always need to have something in your mouth, like gum, candy, or a drink? 9. Do you eat differently in front of other people than you do alone? 10. Does the way you eat affect your lifestyle or health? 11. Do you vomit, over-exercise, or use laxatives to control your weight? 12. Do you feel powerful when you restrict your food or caloric intake? 13. Are the people you are close to worried about your health because of your weight or eating patterns? 14. Do you sometimes eat food that is raw, frozen, burned, or spoiled? 15. Do you finish whats on other peoples plates so it shouldnt go to waste? 16. Do certain foods make you lose control over how much you eat? 17. Has your weight yo-yoed several times? 18. Do you spend a lot of time debating what or how much to eat?
Take Our Quiz And See
Food addiction can show itself in many different ways. We thought we lacked willpower or self-discipline. Many of us had self-discipline in other areas of our lives, but not with food. Or if we sometimes restrained our eating while on a diet, it never lasted very long.
We heard people express feelings of low self-esteem, fear, doubt, insecurity, shame, guilt, and hopelessness around their relationship with food. We hated to admit that we had a problem and that we were not normal with food. Over time we became aware that these were symptoms of food addiction.
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Causes Of Food Addiction
Addiction itself is a complex disease. Once a line is crossed, there is no going back, and this is the same whether dealing with drugs, alcohol, or food. With food addiction, the intake of certain types of food act as a sort of drug that produces pleasure or a feeling of comfort, even when the body does not need the nutrients. One study found that food addiction occurs when a persons neuroanatomy and neurochemistry become altered.
How To Prevent Or Overcome Food Addiction
Food addiction is difficult to prevent because its impossible to avoid food. However, one of the best strategies is to avoid overexposure to palatable foods by eating a healthy, balanced diet thats rich in natural, unprocessed foods. Eating a balanced diet and understanding the warning signs of food addiction will help you to act quickly if you suspect a problem.
Overcoming food addiction typically involves following the same model thats used to treat other types of addictionsand youll need a solid plan and plenty of support.
- First, youll need to detoxify your body by avoiding trigger foods, such as fast food or foods with processed sugar. During this time, you may experience withdrawal symptoms that can range from mild to severe.
- After you detoxify your body, youll need to work on changing your eating behaviors. You may need to avoid certain people, places , situations and foods that intensify cravings or make you more likely to consume the problem food. You also may need to break associations between food and routines or events, such as eating ice cream before bed or having buttery popcorn at the movie theater.
- Other strategies that can help include tracking your food consumption, preplanning your meals and eating mindfully.
If you need professional support to help you lose weight, talk to your primary care physician to see what options may be right for you.
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How To Get Help For Addictive Eating
Willpower alone is rarely a strong enough defense against food addiction and the vicious cycle of cravings, overindulging and guilt it creates. In fact, trying to fight your cravings can even intensify them.
Dr. Albers recommends working with a psychiatrist or psychologist who can help you address both the physical symptoms and the underlying emotional factors that might be contributing to your food addiction. You might also find support groups like Overeaters Anonymous that host free in-person or virtual meetings in your area.
Learning what triggers your addictive behaviors will be an important first step. For some people, its stress or despair that leads them to turn to food for comfort. If you can learn your triggers for overeating and break that cycle, that can be important because we cant always control whether those addictive foods are going to be around us, Dr. Albers says.
Mindfulness and other techniques to help you manage stress can also help overcome the cycle of overeating.
The more youre aware of the forces at play in your cravings and what strategies can help combat them, the better your chances of breaking free of them and healing.
But Isnt Exercise Addiction A Good Thing
If youve never had an addiction to exercise, you might wonder why its even a problem at all. In fact, you might think it is actually a desirable thing to be addicted to exercise.
But while its definitely a nice thing to feel motivated to exercise on a regular basis, theres a fine line between wanting to work out because it makes you feel healthy and strong and feeling like you have to work out or you just wont be OK.
An exercise addiction is actually classified as a behavioral addiction, in which a persons behavior becomes obsessive compulsive and/or causes dysfunction in a persons life. And not unsurprisingly, exercise addictions show a high correlation with eating disorders.
Whats more, many people addicted to exercise will constantly put exercise above family and friends, work, injuries, or other important life events. And studies show that if its not identified or treated, an exercise addiction may lead to a significant decline in ones health.
Plus, exercise addiction can create total reality distortion. For example, when I think Im not going to be able to work out due to an injury, or because Im traveling with other people and it will annoy them, or for whatever reason, heres what goes through my head:
- Im going to gain 20 pounds of fat by tomorrow.
- Im going to lose all my strength and hard work I put in over these past few years.
- Im going to lose all my desire to exercise and go back to the way I used to bechubby, weak, and unconfident.
Silly, right?
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You Define Your Happiness By Your Body Or Level Of Fitness
I recently joked with a friend that when I go I hope my tombstone doesnt say, Here lies Eric. He liked to exercise a lot. Our activities dont define who we are – qualities do. You arent what you do. You are what is inside you.
My girlfriend is a former competitive Ironman triathlete. She recently retired from the sport and seldom mentions her racing days. While she is proud of her former accomplishments, she doesnt dwell on the past, and instead looks forward to whats next. While it takes tremendous drive and courage to prepare for and compete in an endeavor like Ironman, it takes an equal amount of courage to know when enough is enough and the time is right to try something different.
Our activities, careers, and life in sport will change over time and even diminish. The qualities we express in doing them are what count.
You Do Not Mind Responding To Messages Or Checking Your Phone While On A Date
Dates are meant to be occasions where you give your undivided attention to the person you are with.
However, with phone addicts, the situation might be a little different.
They will keep checking their phones and responding to messages even while they are out on a date.
Such behavior definitely seems rude to the other person, especially if they want to talk to you and get to know you better.
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Other Articles About Food Addiction
- Eating disorders are often co-morbid conditions, meaning they can commonly occur with other mental or behavioral conditions. For example, some individuals with eating disorders may also struggle with substance abuse, such as alcoholism or an addiction to drugs.
Last Reviewed and Updated By: Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC on May 12, 2017
You Eat A Lot Of Fruit Or Drink A Lot Juice
Dont let it fool you fruit is sugar too! Fruit juices are particularly high-glycemic and if you frequently crave or eat fruit, it could be a sign of an underlying sugar addiction.
The solution: Focus on fruits that give you more bang for your buck, that is, more nutrients with less sugar. Berries are chock-full of antioxidants and other beneficial phytochemicals while containing less sugar than most other fruits. If you drink juice, make sure its fresh green juice coming from mainly vegetables.
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How To Treat An Addiction To Pornography When Youre Ready To Recover
If you believe you are suffering from porn addiction, rehabilitation is essential to gaining back control and living a healthy sexual life. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is often used to break the cycle of porn addiction. CBT focuses on minimizing dysfunctional thought patterns and actions. This is an effective therapeutic approach for those with mood disorders such as depression. The goal is to take self-defeating thoughts and transform them into positive messages. It also tries to find more positive and effective stress coping skills than substance abuse. CBT is often a short-term therapy that addresses immediate problems and includes abstinence from porn use. The resources to get you back to yourself exist. Now is the time to ask for help.
If you love someone you believe may be suffering from a porn or sex addiction, intervention services are available.
