Obesity vs Alcholism/Drug Addiction

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boomboom011
boomboom011 Posts: 1,459
in Health and Weight Loss
I am so curious to see what you all think. A co-worker and I were joking about taking off work to go to Hilton Head for a month cause we need "rehab" and we said dang it we cant take off work that long.

My question to you all is if obesity is considered a disease and you can take FMLA to attend rehab for drug/alcohol addiction, why cant you to attend an obesity clinic/facility and use FMLA?

I anxiously await your thoughts?

Replies

  • Angela4Health
    Angela4Health Posts: 1,319 Member
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    Can you not attend an obesity facility? That seems like a medical issue to me... I don't see why you wouldn't be able to.
  • Rage_Phish
    Rage_Phish Posts: 1,507 Member
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    we are all addicted to food, in fact i have heard that the withdraw symptoms are so bad that they can lead to death!
  • loseatonlady
    loseatonlady Posts: 160
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    I pray someday it is recognized as a true addicition! I have a client that I'm training and her hubby had been tempting her w/her fav foods & one night she let him take her to a custard stand & after they finished - she looked @ him & said, "Ok, now we're going to a bar for some drinks" ... he is a recovering AA member. He looked @ her and said, "Why would you say that to me?" her response was awesome - "that's what you just did to me!" He paused and said, "point taken".
  • CarmenSox
    CarmenSox Posts: 110 Member
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    Addiction is addiction period.......regardless it its food, drugs, cutting, alcohol, etc........ Just my opinion.
  • boomboom011
    boomboom011 Posts: 1,459
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    i dont think its covered under the Family Medical Leave Act. Meaning if i leave work for that long (30 days) i might could lose my job (hypothetically speaking).
  • Newkell
    Newkell Posts: 379 Member
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    interesting thought. Ask most obese people and they will probably admit that rather than use alcohol or drugs they have been "self medicating" with food. I know that is what I did for years. What a vicious cycle. I think a lot of average or normal weight people look at those suffering with obesity and think that we are "lazy" or have no discipline. rehab would be a great option. For some people it may be medical. I would be curious to know how many people out there who are obese have been using food as the "drug of choice" to ease what ever pain they have experienced through life.
  • HollyLLillis
    HollyLLillis Posts: 113 Member
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    I would hope you could if your life depended on it.... there are people out there that are so morbidly obese that walking across the room is a health hazzard. I would bet they would have to have a doctors note saying that your health is in jepordy before letting you take the time off from work for counceling. Just my thought.... :drinker:
  • megan4487
    megan4487 Posts: 142 Member
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    I totally agree with you. I have a family memeber is who is an alcholic and I often say your addicted to alchol, as I am to food, Difference being I can't stop eating. Dont get me wrong, I KNOW that alchol/drug addiction is horrible, I have seen the affects, and I am not downplaying the severity of it by any means, but I do feel like people who are overweight are struggling just in a different way.
  • CarmenSox
    CarmenSox Posts: 110 Member
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    oh yea and im an alcoholic too....... just saying..lol.....I struggle with food just as much as i do alcohol
  • HollyLLillis
    HollyLLillis Posts: 113 Member
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    I pray someday it is recognized as a true addicition! I have a client that I'm training and her hubby had been tempting her w/her fav foods & one night she let him take her to a custard stand & after they finished - she looked @ him & said, "Ok, now we're going to a bar for some drinks" ... he is a recovering AA member. He looked @ her and said, "Why would you say that to me?" her response was awesome - "that's what you just did to me!" He paused and said, "point taken".

    Wow!! I take my hat off to her, she is my hero!!
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    There's a difference between most of us who just made bad choices and those who have food addictions. Some people have strong underlying physical and psychological issues that lead to food addictions, and for those people there are numerous programs available to treat them. Food addictions affect similar pathways in the brain as alchoholism and drug use.

    I do not consider myself a food addict, but rather that I let myself go due to laziness more than anything (with food and with activity). It's not a compulsion that I can't stop no matter what I do, and although I get cravings, I don't get them to the point that I cannot resist.
  • HollyLLillis
    HollyLLillis Posts: 113 Member
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    Addiction is addiction period.......regardless it its food, drugs, cutting, alcohol, etc........ Just my opinion.

    Exactly, and I think those of us with eating disorders have a harder time because like someone said... we can't stop eating, literally. Alcoholics can quit drinking and drug addicts can stop the drugs but we can't stop eating.... we have to learn to eat right but we can't NOT eat. It's not as easy as it seems...
  • boomboom011
    boomboom011 Posts: 1,459
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    make no mistake i am by no means a food addict. im just lazy.
  • boomboom011
    boomboom011 Posts: 1,459
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    wait am i in denial?
  • DESIREE1210
    DESIREE1210 Posts: 177 Member
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    I go from one to the other, I've had my problems with drugs and alcohol and the past 20 years it's been food. i always have an addiction to something. I'm hoping I could get addicted to the gym but it's not happening...LOL

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