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Research Methods Research Proposal on Overeating as an Addiction

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Research Methods Research Proposal on Overeating as an Addiction
Is Overeating An Addictive Behaviour?
Comparing Overeating And Substance Abuse Across Addiction Models.

Abstract Both overeating and under eating have been loosely defined in academic journals as addiction disorders, much like drug dependence is widely recognized as today. Although many addictions are habitual, some may have a deeper reasoning behind them. Both food and drugs have intense reinforcing and rewarding effects on some subjects. Addiction is defined in Webster’s as the compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal. A group of 30 men (n = 30) aged 18-30 years old were tested in this study who had either a drug addiction (personality type D), food addiction (personality type O) or neither addictive personality (personality type N). Qualitative measures were used to find out just how addictive food can be to ‘overeaters’. Many forms of instrumentation were used in this study. Participants filled out questionnaires, surveys and were also interviewed during the course of this 2-day trial period. This study has shown significant effects of food on participants with an overeating disorder and thus point in the direction of overeating (and perhaps under eating) as being an addictive behavior.

Introduction Obesity is a major public health issue in North America. Trying to distinguish between overeating and drug dependence as addictions is difficult as there are many parallels between them (Barry et al. 2009). Until recently, overeating was not seen as an addictive behavior, but in recent journal findings, it has been proven to arouse the same reinforcing and reward effects as substance abuse. When animal models become addicted to some types of food, leading to binge eating, certain behavioral components of addiction are shown to have similar neurochemical changes, which also occur with addictive



References: Avena N.M. (2010) The study of food addiction using animal models of binge eating. Appetite, 55, 734-737. Barry D, Clarke M, Petry N.M. (2009) Obesity and its relationship to addictions: Is overeating a form of addictive behaviour? The American Journal on Addictions, 18, 439–451. Davis C., Carter J.C. (2009) Compulsive overeating as an addiction disorder. A review of theory and evidence. Appetite, 53, 1-8. Davis C, Claridge G. (1998) The eating disorders as addiction: a psychobiological perspective. Addictive Behaviors, 23(4), 463–475. de Silva, P., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1987). Personality and addictiveness in anorexia and bulimic patients. Personality and Individual Differences, 8, 749–751. Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1991). Manual of the Eysenck personality scales. London: Hodder & Stoughton. Feldman, J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1986). Addictive personality traits in bulimic patients. Personality and Individual Differences, 7, 923–926. Volkow, N. D., & Wise, R. A. (2005). How can drug addiction help us understand obesity? Nature Neuroscience, 8, 555–560.

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