‘It was definitely news to both of us that you could be addicted to food’

FOOD addiction can be tricky to recognise and treat – unlike drink and drugs, you can’t come off it completely and unlike the drink or drug addict, the overeater does not come stumbling through the door.

John was gobsmacked when his wife Mary was diagnosed as a food addict.

“It was definitely news to both of us that you could be addicted to food. I still find the whole notion strange, the idea that someone travels to Cork three times a week to go to an hour-long meeting (Overeaters Anonymous) to stop them overeating. But I suppose it doesn’t impinge on the addict’s family in the way an alcoholic or a drug addict would, so in that respect, it’s not your typical type of addiction.”