Obsession says "I demand!" It means: "I'm afraid."

Obsession is defined as a thought, idea, or belief that preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind.

For the recovering addict or alcoholic, obsession is a vilified behavior and for good reason. If thinking drives what we do, then out-of-control, persistent, and intrusive thoughts about liquor, drugs, or food would ultimately drive us to drink, use, or binge.

Scarier still is the idea that obsession happens to us. Then we are at the mercy of whether obsession has chosen us today or spared us. We try to control our environments (no tempting foods allowed anywhere near us!) because we worry that these things trigger obsession and the painful rumination that goes with it. But controlling our environments means that we are limited in where we can go in the world - not an ideal strategy. 

But what if we re-considered obsession, not as a malfunction, but as a logical behavior of the brain. What would drive that behavior? 

Fear: If we are afraid, we get hyper-focused on the object of our fear. We try to get ahead of it, look at it from all angles, over-control it, think about it constantly, resist and avoid it. 

The fear is what needs to be healed, not the obsession. And fear can be examined, softened, and healed.