Question by Megan H: Drug/alcohol addiction treated like an illness but food addiction people are just called fat, why is that?
I know people who go to N.A. and A.A. and it is free, 2 of them even receive SSI payments as they are too “addicted” to work. I on the other hand, have a food addiction. I’m morbidly obese because of it, but Weight Watchers meetings charge me money to attend. Drug addicts have clinics they can go to for free medical care, I have to pay to go to gym. Mine addiction I’m told is one I can give up with will power, but they have a “disease”..I want to know why is it different? I am so tired of trying only to be shut down at every try and my health insurance would pay for me to go in rehab, but not for weight loss clinic or program. I feel like I should start being a druggie to get any help!
Let me give you a few details. I care for my 80 yr old mother and my 2 grandkids as their parents are off on drugs somewhere and I only get $ 335 from state to help pay for their care. I work 2 jobs just to pay bills and 1 of them is at fast food, the other is for insurance office. I cannot afford to buy better insurance and not eligible for state insurance because they say I make too much. By the end of working 14 hours a day M-F and 8 on Sat, plus all the housework, I am just too tired to work out. And there are plenty of free services for bulimia and anorxia, but not for food addition. I’m not making excuses I just want to know why the system is step up this way.
I eat for free at restaurant job and with the amount I earn I have to because the money has to go to pay for rent/utilities and childcare the state only allows me 40hours a week for the 2 kids. My grocery budget for 4 of us is $ 50 a week, so we eat as cheap as possible and yes that means alot of canned foods and such. People need to get off their high horses and walk a mile in someone elses shoes.

Best answer:

Answer by RdRedWine
GET A BETTER INSURANCE!!! Even mine offers free programs and discounts to fitness clubs and martial arts courses.

Weight Watchers is a FOR PROFIT company. You need to look into support groups.

Check the newspaper and go to health fairs. Some free courses are offered at your local hospital. At some health fairs you can get your diabetes tested, eyes and teeth checked, and blood pressure taken. Check our your YMCA and community building for free classes.

Answer by Shane
I think it’s because drugs and alcohol are actually physically addictive, while food is only mentally addictive at best. You can never be anything more than mentally dependent on food. And I know, I used to weigh 350+ lbs but I finally got my head out of my ass and lost 150 lbs. There is nothing magical about weight loss, you burn more calories than you take in and you lose weight. And if looking better, feeling better, and living longer aren’t good enough reasons for you to break this “addiction”, then nothing will be. Good luck!

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Question by Dan W: Can i become a councilor with a GED?
Well i am wondering if you can become a councilor for drug abuse if you only have a GED, because i was addicted to methamphetamine, marijuana, inhalants, and alcohol for about five years of my life and luckily i got myself help and have been clean for about 2 years now and i would really like to help people overcome the demons i also faced trying to become clean, any help would be wonderful. Thanks for any feed back.

Best answer:

Answer by jannsody
Congratulations on having almost two years of sobriety! With regard to becoming a substance abuse counselor, I believe that most with a Certified Addiction Counselor (CAC) have a master’s degree which takes about six years of college, if attending on a full-time basis. There are different levels of training for addictions counseling, but most jobs prefer those with a master’s degree.

Please also be aware that in order to get one’s certification as a CAC (or similar credentials), the person needs A LOT of clinical experience which includes having an actual patient caseload of those with addiction.

With regard to schooling, please AVOID those private overly priced For-profit schools such as kaplan, ashworth, capella, university of phoenix, devry, ITT tech, strayer, everest, brown mackie, american public university, keiser, argosy, penn foster, ashford, grand canyon, westwood, stratford career, pima medical institute, colorado tech and others as they are merely out to “make a profit” (** and their course credits usually do NOT transfer to other schools).

These consumer sites have a lot of negative posts by former students about those for-profit schools, and please heed the students’ warnings:

– http://www.ripoffreport.com

– http://www.pissedconsumer.com

– http://www.complaintsboard.com and can search.

Please instead consider the more affordable community college and/or public/state university as long as the program is accredited within the industry.

For U.S. colleges: http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ

This site is supposed to have more info re: (regarding) getting certified in addictions counseling: http://www.naadac.org/certification and can scroll down a bit.

General career info: http://www.bls.gov/oco and can search “counselors”, “social workers” or such.

Regarding inhalants or “huffing” (fumes or chemical vapors), my friend actually has a Brain Injury from inhalant use at the age of 12, now in her 30s.

Other risks of huffing include sight loss/blindness, heart/liver/kidney damage, seizures, limb spasms, hearing loss and even death, all of which can happen after the very FIRST time of use.

For anyone, this site has more info about the dangers of huffing – National Inhalant Prevention Coalition: http://www.inhalants.org

Wishing you continued recovery and wellness and that you continue making good, HEALTHY choices in life 🙂

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Question by erock: WHY DO PEOPLE CLAIM TO BE ADDICTED TO FOOD?
really fat people get over it.

PEOPLE QUIT DOING HERION YES HERION ONE OF THE MOST ADDICTIVE THINGS IN THE WORLD

so really stop crying about food being addictive cuz the fact is if people can quit drugs and smokes you can quit stuffing your faces with candy bars good day

Best answer:

Answer by Betty B
I think it’s harder to quit an addiction that is legal.

What if heroin addicts could find it everywhere for very cheap…and it would be legal?
They would not have so many incentives (money…prison…) to quit.

Answer by Melora
“Food addiction” is a mental dependency; you can not really be physically addicted to the food itself, but more the fact of needing it.

Understand that what you said is not helping your complaint. It was a difficult process to quit heroine, was it not? It’s the same idea. Some people turn to heroine, some to cigarettes, some to food. Addiction is a delicate subject that involves a history or emotional damage, so I suggest you do not make it any worse by bitching about it on here.

If you want it to stop, than at least help in a more polite manner.

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by colemama

Question by Cindy: How do I convince my husband that I need inpatient rehab for alcoholism? He insists that it won’t help me.?
Because I tried outpatient rehab once and didn’t stick with it, he is positive that “rehab” of any sort would be a useless waste of money. I keep thinking of all the money I currently spend on wine…. This has been going on for three years, ever since I had gastric bypass and could no longer fulfill my food addiction. I apparently just replaced that addiction with the addiction to alcohol. ANY help would be appreciated!

Best answer:

Answer by Nick
I’m not really sure about the difference between the two, but my dad used to be an alcoholic before he was told he wouldn’t make it past 39 if he kept drinking. He has to take liver pills now.

Answer by xscreamxxletters
My father had bad alcoholism. We tried and tried to convince him to go to AA meetings or to go to rehab, but every time he did for us, it wouldn’t do anything. He’d be back to drinking within the week. Then, one day it sort of clicked in him what the addiction was doing to his life. He finally checked himself into some local AA meetings. He’s been happily sober for a year and 2 months.
If you think you need to go to rehab, and you REALLY want to stop like my father did…. You can do it. Go to rehab. Get better. It’ll be hard, but in the end it’s well worth it. I know my father has never been happier.
Oh, and about the cost of rehab…Yeah, it is expensive. But seriously, if you think about what you said about how much you spend on wine, you will be saving a lot in the long run. You would probably, over the years, increase the amount of wine you take in to get the same buzz, which would be even more than you’re paying now.
Go to rehab, seriously. Hopefully once your husband sees how much happier you are later, he’ll be glad you did.