Article February 26, 1977 Issue

Satisfying Our Cravings

ELAINE H. NATALE

Everyone, at one time or another, has longed for something he feels he very much needs in order to be happy. This yearning may be connected with a relationship—or it might be a deep desire for a change in home, work, or location. But sometimes what appears to be a perfectly legitimate desire gets out of perspective, influencing one's whole outlook and current of thought.

If such yearning goes unchecked, it may grow into the dimensions of obsession, eventually dominating all one's thoughts and feelings and contributing to physical and emotional disorders.

The craving for satisfaction, expressing itself in the compulsive use of tobacco, drugs, or alcohol, or in an obsession with sex, can appear to become uncontrollable. And there are other material cravings that are no less harmful, if less obvious. For instance, the compulsion to buy things—to purchase objects we do not truly need —the desire constantly to be acquiring something new. Or the continuous urge to eat, to consume food we clearly could do without. Or the insistent desire always to be in another's presence and to be the constant focus of another's attention.

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