Health Professionals

Do you have patients whose weight is causing health problems?

Is there a gastric bypass patient starting to gain back all of that weight they lost?

Is there a patient that just can’t stop destroying their health by eating or not eating?

Take a minute to review Compulsive Overeating—An Inside View: The various manifestation of compulsive overeating for more about the behaviors our members have reported using to both conceal and cope with their compulsive eating.

Overeaters Anonymous (OA) can support your work to help your patients who are compulsive eaters. We work alongside many like you. OA complements your recommendations. OA offers an ongoing support system for members and encourages them to help one another–thereby weakening their isolation and loneliness. OA claims no medical, nutritional, or psychological expertise. We recommend members contact qualified professionals for help in these areas.

Research has shown that binge eating, or compulsive eating, is an addictive process like drugs or nicotine. We have found if the person is willing, he or she can use the same methods found to be successful in treating drug or alcohol addictions to resolve their destructive eating behaviors.

OA does not recommend any specific food plans. Our principals can work with any healthy food plan, medically supervised or not. According to our Twelve Traditions, these are outside matters on which we have no opinion. Some folks do have other physical and psychological disorders. We are not a therapy group. We recommend that members seek the advice of a healthcare professional for food plans or other treatments.

We are simply a network of support. Our members share their experiences, strength, and hope along their path of recovery. Members are free to “take what they want and leave the rest.” With this method, each person can determine what works for them while experiencing new positive behaviors around food, which eventually replace previous maladaptive food behaviors.

We are willing to meet with you or your patients to discuss the program and our individual experiences along the path of recovery. We do not charge for this, and we would prefer if our names stayed out of it as much as practically possible. Anonymity is a founding principle of OA. We value our own as well as that of your patients. We must always maintain our individual anonymity at the level of press, radio, television, and other forms of public media. If you would like to talk with someone, please contact our fellowship through the Public Information Coordinator and someone will contact you.

Overeaters Anonymous is a proven program based on the spiritual principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. Many people have reached a healthy weight and maintained it by following this program of recovery.

Read our latest copy of the Professional Community Courier newsletter.