Why do people think food addiction is different than drug addiction?!
Question:
Why do people think food addiction is different than drug addiction?
Answers:
Probably because it IS different.
Look at the DSM criteria for substance dependence:
http://www.dva.gov.au/health/younger/mhe...
Think about how drug addiction would fit those criteria, and then think about in what ways food addiction could fit those criteria.
Also, "food addiction" is a dangerous term because it's often employed by pro-anorexia groups to describe "addiction" to even minimally necessary amounts of food as a "disorder" that needs to be "overcome." Hopefully that's not what you're referring to, in which case the term you're looking for would be compulsive over-eating.
Compulsive over-eating is considered an eating disorder rather than a substance use disorder. There's a reason for that. Eating is entirely necessary, and ceasing it entirely is also a disorder. Whereas drug addiction implies abuse of or dependence on a substance that is generally unnecessary, eating disorders involve disregulation of consumption of a substance (food) that must be consumed at levels within a specific range. Treatment of compulsive over-eating is fundamentally different to treatment of substance abuse or dependence in that ideal outcome for substance use disorders is typically abstinence from the substance whereas the goal of treatment of compulsive over-eating clearly is not anorexia.