Addiction to sweets as a marriage breaking point

[HarrisonJones]

Hi all.

My post may be a little atypical but I think it is important. My marriage is currently in a crisis. The reason? My wife's addiction to sweets, or more likely, her inability to admit it and get help. She gets mad when I try to touch the subject and reacts with aggresion. I do not lose hope, and I believe we can get through it together. I blame myself that I have missed some obvious signs of the addiction. Perhaps if I reacted ahead of time maybe we wouldn't be in the tough spot we are right now. What are those signs?

• Sweets are present practically every day on your menu.
• You feel a strong need or even compulsion to eat something sweet, which is often experienced as a strong inner feeling similar to hunger and is associated with an immediate desire to satisfy the need.
• You are accompanied by the fear that you cannot go long without eating something sweet.
• You feel anxious when you don't eat anything sweet.
• You begin to regulate your emotions with sweets (e.g., you eat to lift your mood when something bad happens, when you are upset).
• You get angry when someone points out that you eat too many sweets.
• You often think about something sweet.
• When you can't cope with something, you automatically reach for sweets.
• Eating sweets fulfills your other needs (besides the taste).
• When you crave something sweet, you can't concentrate on anything until you've satisfied the craving.
• Sometimes it is hard for you to control the number of sweets you eat.
• Even though your health tells you to stop eating sweets (e.g. insulin resistance, diabetes, overweight, obesity) you are unable to stop.

Watch yourself and watch each other, and please wish me luck!


----------------------------------------