Addiction

A friend of mine lost a massive amount of weight a few years ago through OA (Overeaters Anonymous.) She gained back some of it over the past year. I was surprised to see that some of the criticism I voiced about the program was echoed in the words of a doctor in an article that I read this morning.


Dr. Lance Dodes was interviewed about the effectiveness of the AA program.


Q: AA promotes complete abstinence; you argue that this can contribute to feelings of failure.


A: Abstinence as a goal is not evil or bad. If you can be abstinent, that’s better than not. But in AA, it does have this rigid, moralistic quality, specifically, in the way they treat you when you have a slip. If you haven’t had a drink for six months and you have a beer, your number of days sober, according to AA, goes to zero. That’s horribly moralistic, completely unwarranted, and it makes no sense, scientifically or clinically. For people who don’t do well, it’s very disheartening: Not only are you an alcoholic or an addict, but you haven’t been able to work the program.
http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/does-alcoholics-anonymous-fail-addicts/


An article in the Daily Mail this morning is about Sarah Ferguson's 3 stone weight loss this past year.
A 2009 article details her 3 stone weight loss which means she gained it back and had to lose it all over again. All I can derive from her weight gain and loss history is that addiction is a life-long struggle.