Wikipedia:

During binges compulsive overeaters consume as much as 5,000 calories and up to 60,000 calories per day, which results as an addictive "high" not unlike those experienced through drug usage, and a release from psychological stress.

This is in line with other theories of addiction that attribute it not to avoidance of withdrawal symptoms, but to a primary problem in the reward centers of the brain.

For the Compulsive Overeater, the ingestion of trigger foods causes release of the neurotransmitter, serotonin. This could be another sign of neurobiological factors contributing to the addictive process.

Abstinence from addictive food and food eating processes causes withdrawal symptoms in those with eating disorders.

There may be higher levels of depression and anxiety due to the decreased levels of serotonin in the individual.^[2]

There are complexities with the biology of compulsive eating that separate it from a pure substance abuse analogy. Food is a complex mixture of chemicals that can affect the body in multiple ways, which is magnified by stomach-brain communication. In some ways, it may be much more difficult for compulsive overeaters to recover than drug addicts. There is an anecdotal saying among Overeaters Anonymous members that "when you are addicted to drugs you put the tiger in the cage to recover; when you are addicted to food you put the tiger in the cage, but take it out three times a day for a walk."^[2]

Seriously. That is SO me. I have an unhealthy fixtation on food, and unless I get help soon, I'll be 70 kilograms by the time SPM comes around. I'll be so fat that I'll have low self-esteem and become antisocial. How am I supposed to go out for SPM then?

Never imagined food to be so academically destructive.