Food addiction and depression are two things that CAN make you lose control of your own life and your own body.

Absolutely they can lead to a loss of control. But they can also be managed and treated successfully. "Food addiction" is a very grey area in regards to the "food" part...addictive personality traits absolutely exist and need managing, but it's often the case that when someone loses weight and lets go of the "food" part of their addiction, they migrate to something else like smoking or alcohol, so the "food" element of the addiction is actually rather arbitrary, it's the addiction part of the equation that is important to treat.

Depression is a hell that knows no other and if anyone is struggling with that, they have to do something about it. The comedienne Ruby Wax sums it up just perfectly and I suggest everyone watches this short clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=426RPll-9qI

Absolutely they can lead to a loss of control. But they can also be managed and treated successfully. "Food addiction" is a very grey area in regards to the "food" part...addictive personality traits absolutely exist and need managing, but it's often the case that when someone loses weight and lets go of the "food" part of their addiction, they migrate to something else like smoking or alcohol, so the "food" element of the addiction is actually rather arbitrary, it's the addiction part of the equation that is important to treat.

Depression is a hell that knows no other and if anyone is struggling with that, they have to do something about it. The comedienne Ruby Wax sums it up just perfectly and I suggest everyone watches this short clip:

That was a very good video. I had depression for a while, it was triggered by being physically sick for weeks, and then months, and not knowing what was wrong (Turned out to be cat scratch fever). I managed to get through without pills, being a pill-phobe... I saw one doctor trying to find out what was wrong, and he asked if I was depressed, so then I knew everyone was going to tell me it was in my head, and I wasn't sick at all. I told him that I was DEPRESSED because I was SICK, I was not SICK because I was DEPRESSED. In my case, I just didn't eat, and lost 10 pounds, but looking back, it's hard ot know which was depression symptoms and which was cat scratch fever symptoms. But ANY addiction, one has control, and they just have to get a grip on it. I totally understand about getting older and giving up. that's been my case. I say to myself, "who the hell cares, nobody cares if I'm pretty anymore", and I know it's the worng way to feel. But I also know that I can't lose TOTAL control, or I'll end up like my sister, who is 53 and can barely walk across the room. I might be 30 pounds overweight, but she is 130 pounds overweight. I also (wrongly) say to myself... "It's no big deal, I am very active (shoveling truckloads of mulch and rock and planting shrubs) and I've never drank, smoked a single cigarette, no drugs, not even coffee. The psychology of it is tough, and I'd LOVE to feel in control as much as I did when I was 25... but then agian, I wonder if everyone else gets so deep in thuoght about their middle age spread.

In my college years I packed on 30 pounds, one day I caught a look at myself in the mirror, thought "What the hell?" and took it off over 9 months. It wasn't easy, as I ate out of stress, but I did it.

Using food as a coping mechanism illustrates that being overweight is often a symptom of something deeper. As you've said, in your case it is depression. Some people drink (and to Eric's point, Joan has never had a drinking problem), some smoke, some shop, some do drugs, some gamble and some eat. The depression, however, is your issue, not food. Food is simply your drug of choice.

Is any addiction easy to manage and control? No. Are some people predisposed, genetically, to addiction? Absolutely.

Is being fat a choice? As far as medical science is concerned, yes, it is.

And I don't want to be callous and dismissive because being overweight is difficult, but fat acceptance is not healthy either short term or long term for anyone's health.

OK, all of that makes a lot of sense. And I won't call you the online Dr Drew quIte yet

Absolutely they can lead to a loss of control. But they can also be managed and treated successfully. "Food addiction" is a very grey area in regards to the "food" part...addictive personality traits absolutely exist and need managing, but it's often the case that when someone loses weight and lets go of the "food" part of their addiction, they migrate to something else like smoking or alcohol, so the "food" element of the addiction is actually rather arbitrary, it's the addiction part of the equation that is important to treat.

Depression is a hell that knows no other and if anyone is struggling with that, they have to do something about it. The comedienne Ruby Wax sums it up just perfectly and I suggest everyone watches this short clip:

Good video