Not having had alcoholism, I can't really give you the answer which AA would probably offer, but I do have a sensitivity to sugar (and now wheat) so I know a little about cravings.

You ask what is one running from? It could be low self-esteem, from love, from
ignorance, from fear, from God, from anything that is human that one can feel deep emotion about that drives him/her to seek relief of the pain of it all.

I would agree that one needs to know what the deepest problem is that prompts
the addiction. Seeing a psychiatrist and learning his view of the problem is one place to start. Another is AA and there you must be willing to follow a 12-step program that will eventually expose you to your real problem and then lead you to the way to live a sober and healthy lifestyle. Either way works for many of us, I think.