Food addiction, in obese patients seeking bariatric surgery, is associated with higher prevalence of current mood and anxiety disorders and past mood disorders

Despite the fact that food is widely available in western societies, that eating is an essential and frequent human activity, and that certain foods have powerful rewarding and addictive effects similar to drugs (Volkow et al., 2012; Volkow and Wise, 2005), the hypothesis that some individuals are addicted to food or to their eating behavior has only recently been proposed (Meule and Gearhardt, 2014). The recognition of food addiction (FA) as an addictive disorder is a hotly debated topic with some authors suggesting that the FA phenotype should be viewed as an expression of strong habits and preferences rather than as an addictive disorder (Long et al., 2015) while others suggest that it should be seen as a distinct addictive disorder (Avena and Gold, 2011; Gearhardt et al., 2009a, 2011; Ifland et al., 2009).

Source: Psychiatry Research - June 20, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Farid Benzerouk, Fabien Gierski, Pierre-Henri Ducluzeau, C éline Bourbao-Tournois, Isabelle Gaubil-Kaladjian, Éric Bertin, Arthur Kaladjian, Nicolas Ballon, Paul Brunault Source Type: research