ANZJP Article Examines Food Addiction in the Context of DSM-5
A recent viewpoint article published in the Australian & New Zealand Journal
of Psychiatry (ANZJP) has raised the question of whether food addiction “is a
‘true’ and valid addiction, through the lens of the recently released DSM-5,”
the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Nagesh Pai, et al., “Is food addiction
a valid phenomenon through the lens of the DSM-5?,” ANZJP, November
2013. In particular, the article notes that DSM-5 for the first time includes
“non-substance related, behavioral or process addictions” such as Gambling
Disorder and Internet Gaming Disorder, thus setting the foundation “for the
potential future inclusion of food addiction.”
“Readers of the DSM-5 that are familiar with the food addiction literature, may be left wondering why food addiction was excluded based upon the rationale for the inclusion of Gambling Disorder,” write the article’s authors. “Specifically, that gambling activates the same reward and motivation pathways as drugs of abuse.”
At the same time, however, the article acknowledges that some researchers
“oppose the notion of food addiction being a behavioral or process addiction
and instead being comparable to a substance addiction.” To this end, the
authors examine how food addiction relates to each of the four broad categories
of DSM-5’s substance use criteria (impaired control, social impairment,
risky use, and pharmacological criteria), concluding that “there is compelling
evidence for the notion of food addiction as a ‘true’ addiction.”
“From a nosological perspective the phenomenon of food addiction relates to
the underlying criteria of addiction espoused in the DSM-5,” states the article.
“This is evident in the relationship between food addiction and the concept
and rationale for the inclusion of a non-substance use disorder; as well as
the diagnostic criteria of substance use disorder. With the change away from
considering withdrawal and tolerance as essential features of dependence,
food, akin to substances of abuse now meets the ideology of addiction.”
Issue 504
