Food addiction and comfort eating are highly prevalent problems in Bermuda, according to an American expert.

Eric Webber, a relapse specialist at Caron Treatment Centres in Pennsylvania, also suggested that the island’s close-knit nature made it harder for those suffering from addiction to recover in anonymity.

Mr Webber visited Bermuda in the middle of this month to conduct a two-day training programme at The Fairmont Southampton on relapse models, issues and interventions.

During the workshop, hosted by Smith’s-based addiction charity Pathways Bermuda, Mr Webber discovered that the three most common addictions on the island were food, sex and alcohol/drugs.

“One of my challenges was to make the training culturally relevant,” he said. “I asked the professionals and found out that food addiction is extremely prevalent here, as it is in the United States.

“They said that food plays a big part in Bermudian culture and that people tend to eat for comfort, especially high-sugar foods which release chemicals in the brain that make them feel good, just like drugs or alcohol.”

Mr Webber explained that the two common threads of any addiction were obsession and compulsion, which stem from a disregulation of the brain’s limbic system that controls basic emotional responses.

“Obsession is that craving and preoccupation with using that you can’t get out of your brain,” he said. “Compulsion is the behaviour that, once started, you keep going and going, in spite of the consequences.”

Similarly, he added that recovering addicts tended to relapse for one of two reasons: either because they were feeling better, or because they were not.

“Somebody may forget they’re sick and forget to take care of themselves,” he said. “They’re feeling normal and normal people don’t have to go to meetings or therapy. They think they can just have one fix, and then they return to that addictive cycle.

“Alternatively, they try to work through whatever they need to, and just don’t feel better. They’re miserable with or without their choice of drug, so they think, to hell with it.”

Mr Webber said that Bermuda’s small size and population could be stumbling blocks for those seeking to tackle their demons while retaining their privacy.

“It’s a very close community and everybody knows everybody else, so the nature of confidentiality is a bit more difficult,” he said.

“If you go to Alcoholics Anonymous, you might know everybody in the room, as opposed to somewhere like New York City where there are millions of people.

“But if you do see somebody you know in the room, remember that they are there for the same reason you are.”

He added that the best way to help someone who might be dealing with food addiction was to remain respectful and understanding of their issue.

“We need to be sensitive to the needs of people who struggle with this rather than scoffing at them or expecting them to get through their problem via willpower alone,” Mr Webber said.