Meanwhile, most of us self-medicate in some form or another (besides caffeine), albeit it’s more or less ‘under control’. And there are various forms of self-medicating, from the relatively mild to the dangerously extreme, that include non-intoxicant-consumption habits, like social media overuse, chronic shopping/buying, gambling, or over-eating (including highly sugar-saturated products).

If such self-medicating forms are anything like drug intoxication or addiction, it should follow that: the greater the induced euphoria or escape one attains from it, the more one wants to repeat the experience; and the more intolerable one finds their non-self-medicating reality, the more pleasurable that escape will likely be perceived. In other words: the greater one’s mental pain or trauma while not self-medicating, the greater the need for escape from one's reality, thus the more addictive the euphoric escape-form will likely be.

With food, the vast majority of obese people who considerably over-eat likely do so to mask mental pain or even PTSD symptoms. I utilized that method myself during much of my pre-teen years, and even later in life after ceasing my (ab)use of THC or alcohol. Though I don’t take it lightly, it’s possible that someday I could instead return to over-eating.