Inside the world of Overeaters Anonymous

You’ve probably heard of Alcoholics Anonymous, but thousands of people all over the world are applying the same 12-step program to conquer overeating, including right here in the Territory. KYLIE STEVENSON attended a Darwin Overeaters Anonymous meeting to

IT’S a Monday evening and a small cluster of people are gathered in a meeting room at the back of a dark, silent church in Darwin.

As they sit around a coffee table, chatting softly, they look like any other community group that might hold a meeting, but the absence of sociable snacks looms large.

The meeting is declared open, then a slender woman in her early 60s announces: “My name is Doris* and I’m a compulsive overeater.”

This is Overeaters Anonymous (OA), and groups such as this one meet every night of the week to support one another through abstinence from compulsive eating.

Doris joined OA in 2007 after she gained 20kg in six months.

“I became obsessive, I couldn’t stop thinking about food. And the more I dieted, the more I ate,” she says.

“Once I started eating, I couldn’t stop. I’d eat to the point where I’d feel terrible.

“I knew what I was doing to myself, but I was unable to stop. And every time I overate, my mind would tell me, ‘I’m useless, I’m a failure’.”

“I’m an addict with a disease.” This is Carolyn’s* third meeting back after a break from the program and she has gone four days without eating any of her ‘trigger foods’. “That was really hard. And that says something,”

Carolyn says. “Something comes over me. I’m compelled – even when I feel sick – to keep eating.”

Simple tasks such as going to the supermarket have become a nightmare for Carolyn as she debates in her head what she should be putting in the trolley.

“And then I’d give in and buy sweets and I’d demolish them as soon as I got to the car,” Carolyn says.

“I don’t feel good about myself and I’m tired of playing games and trying to justify it. That compulsion to overeat overtakes me like a ferocious devil inside.”

FOOD FANTASIES

DORIS, Carolyn and the other members at the meeting aren’t alone in their struggles with food.

Compulsive overeating is one of the most common eating disorders and is characterised by persistent fantasies about food, and is associated with happy experiences. (This isn’t to be confused with binge-eating disorder, in which sufferers have an uncontrollable urge to consume vast amounts of food in a short period of time, but who don’t have a compulsion to overeat, or fantasise as much.)

While compulsive eating is also associated with distorted beliefs about food and weight, psychologist Loren Byford says it’s also often a coping strategy for managing stress or difficult feelings.

“There are often complex underlying issues of depression, anxiety and poor coping,” Byford says.

Many of her clients come to her following a disruptive life episode, such as a death in the family, a divorce or job loss.

This rings true with many of OA’s Darwin members. Ella*, a slim, blonde woman in her 40s dressed in work attire, says she used food to “manage emotional turmoil” in her life.

“I ate the anger away,” Ella says. “Food became a sedative, a way to celebrate, a way to commiserate. Every emotion had to be garnished with food.”

TOP TREATMENTS

BYFORD recommends overeating disorders be treated by a variety of approaches, including learning to respond to your body’s natural hunger and mindfully eating.

“These are some approaches used to develop a healthy relationship with food, and it’s important that these approaches don’t involve dieting, which is a risk factor for developing other eating disorders,” Byford says.

Talking to a GP is a good first step. From there, ongoing assessment and treatment by a psychologist with specialist training in eating disorders can help to manage the disorder and deal with any underlying stressors or symptoms of depression or anxiety.

“Treatment usually involves identifying behaviours and thought patterns associated with the disorder, as well as the underlying emotional factors,” Byford says.

GOING ANON

ATTENDING OA is another pathway for those seeking to escape compulsive eating. OA uses the same 12-step program and traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, but replaces the words ‘alcohol’ and ‘alcoholic’ with ‘food’ and ‘compulsive overeater’. There are 104 face-to-face meetings around Australia each week, as well as Skype and phone meetings. Meeting groups range from three to 30 people.

Newcomers can have a sponsor to guide them through the steps and, rather than diets, OA recommends members develop an eating plan and encourages them to consult a qualified professional such as a dietitian. OA’s basis is spiritual, and Doris says everyone is welcome.

“We get all types of people,” Doris says. “Men and women, young and old, and they aren’t always overweight. The condition varies a lot between people, too.

“Some resort to taking food out of the garbage or to eating frozen food because they can’t wait for it to defrost.”

Doris says OA has been instrumental in changing her relationship with food and accepting she has a problem.

“For me, food is but a symptom of a deeper disease,” she says.

“We admit we’re in the clutches of a dangerous illness and are powerless against food.”

*Names have been changed.