When a person is depressed, it can leave them feeling empty and alone. Many people, in an effort to fill that emptiness and to find temporary solace from the pain and loneliness of their depression, turn to one vice or another. Drinking and drug use are the most commonly thought of vices that people use in an effort to medicate themselves against the effects of their depression, but they are by no means the only ones.
Eating and sex are generally considered to be pleasurable activities, and not activities that are strongly linked to depression. In truth, every person is different, and food or sex could become a crutch for their depression just as easily as alcohol or drugs are for someone else. Some people begin overeating in an attempt to smother their depression, even to the point where they become physically sick and have to regurgitate everything that they just ate. Others turn to empty, anonymous sex with strangers or casual acquaintances to find the validation they are seeking, but, for some reason, are unable to find.
The primary link between all these activities is that they serve to provide a fleeting, but potentially intense pleasure, and are engaged in to offset the negative feelings associated with depression. The problem they all share is that they all tend to lead to further problems down the road, anywhere from obesity, sexually transmitted diseases, to the side effects of the drugs themselves. They can also lead to further psychological dependencies, making the person sink deeper into depression and making the problem even worse.
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