Message in a Bottle: Beware of Post-Operative Alcohol Use
Alcohol use disorders are a common and especially dangerous form of transfer addiction following gastric bypass surgery. In a web-based survey of more-than 300 bariatric surgery patients, it was found that 83 percent of patients who responded consumed alcohol either occasionally or regularly, and 28 percent of these individuals said they felt they had a problem controlling their intake. Roughly 8 percent of bariatric patients will experience transfer addiction that is serious enough to require inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse, and treatment centers are seeing a rise in patients who have had bariatric surgery. It should be noted that more than half of people who develop serious alcohol use problems following bariatric surgery did not have issues with alcohol use prior to surgery. Therefore, it is ill advised for …
Transfer Addiction Following Bariatric Surgery
Addiction transfer, or cross addiction, after bariatric surgery occurs when individuals trade compulsive eating for other compulsive behaviors. There is also strong evidence of a biological reason for cross addiction. Studies show various forms of transfer addiction in up to 30 percent of patients who have had bariatric surgery. For these patients, food is no longer being a source of comfort, distraction, reward or escape. Other behaviors or substances now substitute for eating, and can become problematic. “Process addictions,” such as gambling, shopping and sex addiction can occur, as well as addictions to alcohol and other drug abuse. In some cases, after a period of initial remission, food addiction can reoccur. Some of the risk factors that show an individual may be affected by transfer addiction include: …
The Patient’s Perspective on the Effects of Transfer Addiction
As a psychologist who specializes in treating bariatric patients, I’ve worked with many people suffering from post-op addiction issues. Because of the influx of patients I was seeing with cross-addiction, I began to offer a “Bariatric Recovery” group. This group meets on a biweekly basis and offers a mixture of psychoeducation, processing, accountability and support. I recently asked the participants in this group for feedback about their struggles, including what they would want others to understand about their addiction, advice they would give to others and what has been most helpful in their journey toward recovery. I’ve found in my many years of working with addicts of all types, that they can be our best teachers about the disease they battle. Here are some of …