Addiction can surface in various forms and pretty much all the substances in the world can make one an addict, though when we think of addiction we picture hard drugs, people injecting them in their arms, that even result in death in some cases. But it can be as simple as being addicted to chocolate. Yes, you read that right, chocolate addiction is real and many suffer from it.
What’s an Addiction?
An addiction can be described as a chronic malfunction of the brain in which one is compulsively using or abusing a rewards system in the form of a substance or an activity despite facing the adversaries related to it. Additionally, these habits start to interfere with a person’s life in every aspect and cause many social issues. As you can see there is no mention of a particular thing in the definition of addiction. All these can happen with chocolate as well.
Signs of Chocolate Addiction
1. Craving: We all crave chocolate from time to time as its intense and complex flavors are true to be savored. While for most of us this need is satisfied with even half a chocolate bar others tend to need a little more and by little more I mean a lot. If you happen to crave chocolate right after you’ve eaten one or you find yourself wanted to ingest chocolate in any form even after a heavy meal, you might be addicted to chocolate.
A girl holding a chocolate bar.
2. No type: Chocolate being such an integrated part of our cultures, it is no surprise that we have so many types of chocolates available and not to mention in so many forms. It ranges from milky white chocolates made from pure cocoa butter to intense dark chocolates with up to 90% cocoa in them, and as for the forms, if you can think of it, it exists. As we have produced, cakes, drinks, bars, and even fountains of chocolate. The reason behind giving you all this information is that most people have a certain type of chocolate they enjoy but once your addiction begins, there is no such thing as a type for the person. They want one thing, and one thing only, chocolate.
3. Timing: After a good meal or with a good cup of coffee, chocolate sounds heavenly but most of us won’t even think of a chocolate first thing in the morning. Well, most of us. If you happen to be wanting to consume it first thing in the morning you might be addicted to chocolate badly, and if you’re evening dreaming about it, things may be worse.
A girl eating chocolate ice cream for breakfast.
4. Sharing: They say sharing is caring. You being a working member of the society understand this well and are more than willing to share your food and other things with the needy, after all, it’s a noble cause. But God helps you if somebody happens to ask for a piece of your chocolate or made you share it, noble cause goes right out of the window as it is a personal line they mustn’t cross. And if they happen to eat your chocolate without your permission, all hell breaks loose. If this sounds like something you’d do you are severely addicted to chocolate.
5. Excuses: Excuses are a part of our lives, we all make them and we sure hear them from others. We produce excuses for not going to school, for wanting to buy a powerful computer, or sell our old car. But when a person starts finding and making excuses with their main goal being chocolate, they are heavily dependent on it. For example, if a group of friends is deciding where to eat, the addicted one will always point out places where chocolate products are easily accessible or they’d simply go to a bakery.
6. Chocolate Fasting: Fasting is a really powerful process when it comes to weight loss and flushing your body of toxins. However, chocolate dependents think of it in a different way and it is one of the extreme cases where medical attention is required immediately. It begins with casual skipping of the meals while eating chocolate and slowly it progresses into substituting chocolates for the meals for the entire day or even weeks. This, as you can imagine has severe effects on one’s body and overall well-being.
Treatments
- Prevention: It may sound like an obvious one. However, when one begins to show early signs of this addiction; the cravings, it can be difficult to stop yourself but that is the perfect time to refrain yourself from going any further. If you are able to prevent yourself from eating chocolate for a couple of days even though you have an intense craving, you’ll find that slowly the cravings will decline. After all, it is better to prevent than cure.
- Psychotherapy: If one is severely addicted to chocolate, avoiding chocolate may not be an option. In this case, a psychologist will be their best bet. As psychology focuses on the brain’s thought processing and is proven to cure many forms of addiction, over a course of numerous psychotherapy sessions one can start feeling confident in their ability to avoid chocolate. Specifically, in the case of a chocolate addiction, many patients have been cured by psychology.
A psychotherapy session is underway.
As you can see, chocolate addiction may sound nothing severe and many may even laugh it off, but it in fact is a serious condition. Medical attention is required to deal with its withdrawals and to cure its aftermath like diabetes. So it must be seriously addressed.
