Does depression cause weight gain

Does Depression Cause Weight Gain or Weight Loss? What’s the Depression/Weight Connection?

Written by Monique Brouillette

Food and mood often go together. You might reach for a comforting bag of chips when you feel down. Or feel so stressed that you can’t even think about eating.

It’s normal for difficult emotions to make you overeat or eat too little. But if you live with clinical depression, changes in eating can be long-term and lead to drastic weight gain or loss.

The Link Between Depression and Weight

Weight gain and depression can stem from social, environmental, and biological causes, says Roger McIntyre, MD, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Toronto. For example, people with financial insecurity or who’ve had troubled childhoods are at a higher risk of both obesity and depression.

Things in the environment also can play a role for those who live in “food deserts or food swamps,” McIntyre says. Living amid fast-food joints and convenience stores and far from grocery stores with fresh produce makes it harder to eat healthy.

The depression-weight link cuts both ways. People who are depressed are more likely to be obese. And people with obesity are at higher risk of depression.

It’s the classic “chicken and egg question,” says Rodrigo Mansur, MD, a psychiatrist at the University of Toronto. Scientists are still trying to parse the complex web of factors behind those relationships.

“It's not as simple as people develop depression, they are less motivated to exercise and they eat more, therefore they gain weight,” Mansur says. “There's obviously some truth to that. But that is an oversimplification of what actually happens.”

One of the classic symptoms of depression is the loss of interest and pleasure in activities. The clinical name for this is anhedonia. Scientists say it is rooted in the brain’s reward system and can make once enjoyable activities suddenly seem mundane.

Take food, for example. Your mouth detects tastes such as sweetness and satisfying umami. But the pleasure you get from eating is processed by your brain. If that reward system goes haywire, it can lead you to seek more food in order to make up for the dull or absent pleasure.

“When they ingest food, it doesn’t satisfy the anticipated reward,” McIntyre says. This can lead to food addiction, “terrible cravings for food that are uncontrollable.”

Depression also can interfere with your impulse control. Studies have shown that people who are depressed are more likely to take risks, such as having unsafe sex. Similar cognitive impairments can result in eating disorders like binge eating and bulimia.

And the stress hormone cortisol can also play a role because it is linked to insulin resistance and obesity. At first, stress can dampen your appetite. But long-term stress can lead to higher insulin levels that drive down blood sugar and cause cravings for sugary and fatty foods.

In rare cases, people who are depressed can have cognitive distortions or thoughts that change their worldview in a way that leads to changes in weight, says Elizabeth Prince, DO, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University. Prince says she checks her patients for signs that they aren’t purposely avoiding food because of a belief that “they aren’t deserving of food,” for example. If that is the case, it is a sign their depression has become severe.

Breaking the Link

Your depression symptoms may be very different from those of someone else. So your treatments should be tailored for you.

“There’s not one thing that will always treat depression. It’s really individualized and something people should work on with their doctor who knows them best,” Prince says. She says a comprehensive treatment plan that addresses both the depression and the weight issue is best “because they clearly impact one another.”

For McIntyre, the first question is whether his patients are sleeping well. He sometimes prescribes medication if he thinks it might help. He also stresses the basics of healthy eating. Finally, he urges people to get some kind of physical activity. In his research, he has shown that people who remain active, even just by going to work, school, or volunteering in the community, have much better outcomes with anti-depression treatment.

“We are not suggesting running a marathon, but there has to be some activity,” he says.

The fact is that there are no universal rules for treating depression and weight issues. “There is no silver bullet,” McIntyre says. Still, he’s is hopeful that more research and data in this area will lead to better, evidence-based approaches. ”I think the future holds a ton of promise in improving outcomes.”

SAMHSA’s National Helpline | SAMHSA

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SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.
Also visit the online treatment locator.

SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.

Also visit the online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message: 435748 (HELP4U) to find help near you. Read more about the HELP4U text messaging service.

The service is open 24/7, 365 days a year.

English and Spanish are available if you select the option to speak with a national representative. Currently, the 435748 (HELP4U) text messaging service is only available in English.

In 2020, the Helpline received 833,598 calls. This is a 27 percent increase from 2019, when the Helpline received a total of 656,953 calls for the year.

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Last Updated: 08/30/2022

Is there a connection with excess weight

Contents

Relationship between overweight and depression
Psychological causes of excess weight
Seasonal affective disorders and overweight

Depression is not just a condition, but a disease that must be taken seriously. Depression is directly related to weight, as it is characterized by changes in appetite, apathy, unwillingness to take care of oneself, weight gain or loss. It is difficult for people who have experienced depression to control their weight, so weight changes are a natural process.

Relationship between overweight and depression

The problem of overweight is often associated not only with the fact that a person does not have enough willpower to control his appetite, but with the fact that weight gain or obesity is a direct consequence of depression .

This means that diets, fasting days or even fasting will not help here, since a long-term strategy is needed to solve the problem

It includes not only the process of losing weight, but also developing healthy habits0018 to help you maintain your weight loss.

Depression is manifested by a whole range of symptoms: increased fatigue, apathy, guilt, low self-esteem, a sense of the meaninglessness of existence, unwillingness to live. Many people think that it is the fullness that affects their psychological state, while everything happens quite the opposite, because of mental problems, they begin to seek solace in food.

Weight gain is a direct consequence of depression

Psychological causes of excess weight

Psychological and emotional disorders directly affect weight loss, as they cause eating disorders. For example, compulsive overeating . People experiencing psychological problems "seize" anxiety, stress, fear, boredom. Hunger attacks become uncontrollable. Overeating, a person blames himself for this, which only aggravates his condition.

Another consequence of psychological problems is night eating syndrome . It manifests itself in the fact that a person skips breakfast, and the entire daily diet falls on the evening, after 6-7 pm. Because of such an incorrect regimen, his sleep and wakefulness patterns are disturbed, and difficulties with falling asleep begin.

Binge eating and night eating syndrome

Childhood trauma, abuse and post-traumatic stress also lead to weight problems. In this case, a person consciously or unconsciously overeats, and his fullness serves as an additional protection for him from the experience. So, a person seizes a trauma (emotional or physical), and excess weight becomes a kind of barrier that protects him from other potential injuries and the whole world around him.

Another cause of excess weight caused by depression can be impaired perception of one's body . This may accompany an eating disorder, or it may cause it. A person begins to be ashamed of his body, sometimes even hates it. He may have a distorted perception of his image, when a person with a normal figure sees a completely different reflection in the mirror. Naturally, someone who is embarrassed about his body will not go in for fitness, swimming or dancing, and therefore the problems will only get worse.

Obesity may be caused by impaired perception of one's body

Seasonal affective disorders and excess weight

Depression can occur in the autumn-winter period due to a lack of sunlight, which is manifested by a decrease in serotonin levels, which causes apathy. This condition is seasonal affective disorder which can cause malnutrition.

If a person tends to get stuck in a bad mood, then it is in winter and autumn that he will gain the most kilograms

In this case, it is necessary to carefully monitor your diet. More vegetables and fruits, you can not allow a deficiency of vitamins, you can take vitamin D. Of course, it is very important to monitor your psychological state.

Thus, depression directly affects weight loss, preventing you from losing excess weight and fixing the result. What to do in this case? Of course, psychological problems, and especially such serious ones as depression, require qualified help. Don't let things take their course, otherwise the psychological state will inevitably cause problems with eating behavior, and then it will be even more difficult for you to get out of it.

Overweight can cause seasonal affective disorders

The help of a psychologist or psychotherapist should be accompanied by the help of loved ones. The environment should help the person who is losing weight acquire useful habits, prevent him from returning to the old eating behavior, and help consolidate the result. The support of households is extremely important: the rules of a balanced healthy diet should be observed in the family. Both the physical and psychological state of a person who is trying to lose weight depends on this.

Psychosomatics of excess weight in women - psychological causes of obesity, how to lose weight correctly

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Psychosomatics of excess weight in women

It is generally accepted that the main cause of obesity is malnutrition and lack of physical activity. But research shows that being overweight has psychosomatic causes. If this is the case, then losing weight simply by dieting will not work, it is necessary to eliminate psychological problems.

Causes of obesity

Obesity is considered one of the diseases of civilization. High-calorie food became available to people, but physical activity decreased. Working, sitting in the office, commuting home in public transport, and often relaxing in the evening sitting on the couch reduce the need for calories. But at the same time, no one reduces consumption, the calorie content of food increases due to the large amount of simple carbohydrates - sweet, flour, and also animal fats.

Research shows that there are many causes of obesity:

malnutrition is not only a large number of calories, but also non-compliance with the diet, fasting in the morning and a large amount of food in the evening before bedtime;
sleep deprivation - going to bed after 12 a. m. interferes with the production of the hormone melatonin, ghrelin and leptin, which regulate appetite. A person who sleeps little or stays up at night is more prone to obesity;
drugs - taking hormones, antidepressants (Amitriptyline, etc.), may provoke increased appetite or impaired lipid and carbohydrate metabolism;
genetic predisposition - it has been proven that children of parents with obesity are prone to the appearance of excess adipose tissue;
endocrine diseases - hypothyroidism, type 2 diabetes mellitus, Cushing's disease are often accompanied by obesity, in men, pathological weight gain is observed with testosterone deficiency, and in women with a lack of estrogen, polycystic ovaries;
pathology of the central nervous system - brain injuries, some types of tumors can provoke eating disorders. Some mental disorders are also accompanied by overeating and being overweight.

Women tend to gain weight at certain times in their lives. Sometimes premenstrual syndrome is accompanied by the development of edema and weight gain. This is due to a lack of the hormone progesterone. Many feel that on the eve of the onset of menstruation and in the first days they begin to eat more, which causes serious fluctuations in body weight.

The risk of gaining excess weight increases during pregnancy. Hormonal changes lead to active storage of fat. On average, body weight during pregnancy increases by 10-15 kg, but some women gain 20-25 kg. Pregnant women with a lean physique are especially prone to this.

During menopause, the risk of obesity increases again. The lack of estrogen affects the metabolism in adipose tissue and leads to a gradual weight gain, which is very difficult to get rid of.

Psychological causes of excess weight

In medicine, psychosomatics is a separate area that is actively developing. Psychosomatic causes have been established in many diseases, obesity is one of them. It is believed that the basis of the development of pathology is the reaction of the body to emotional experience. first, it causes functional changes that are easily corrected when the problem is eliminated, and then pathological disturbances in work.

Psychologists explain that an unresolved internal conflict, a situation that is emotionally unpleasant for a person, can go into the subconscious and remain unresolved. But it remains at an unconscious level and leads to eating disorders or problems with other organs.

Psychosomatics of excess weight in women can be associated with the following factors:

Stress eating – conditionally, if in childhood something sweet was immediately offered to a crying child, this action was fixed in the subconscious. An adult woman, also with negative emotions, tries to eat something tasty to cheer up. Most often these are sweets, fast food, alcohol, which also leads to weight gain due to high calorie content;
low self-esteem - psychologists believe that in self-doubt women, excessive food intake is activated, which leads to excess weight. So they become more visible to others, but continue to live with low self-esteem;
desire to become ugly - women who have been raped at an early age, psychologically increase appetite. So subconsciously they try to disfigure their body in order to avoid the repetition of unpleasant events;
protection from the outside world - eating a lot of food and building up a layer of fat allows you to hide, build a tangible barrier. This is observed both in shy people and in victims of physical or mental abuse;
Attention deficit in childhood or marriage - psychological causes associated with the desire to become more visible to parents who do not devote enough time to the girl. Married women sometimes begin to gain weight when the spouse loses interest in them;
reluctance to like the opposite sex - the root of the problem is also in childhood, when the girl was imposed with false stereotypes of behavior, limited communication with young men or suggested that beauty and sexuality are bad. Subconsciously, the girl begins to change her body, hide it under a layer of fat.

Psychosomatics can increase metabolic disorders in the body and lead to the development of obesity, which is resistant to diets and requires special complex treatment.

What does the distribution of fat on the body say

Psychologists believe that emotional problems can be judged by the nature of the distribution of fat in a woman's body. The second chin appears with innuendo, fear of expressing one's thoughts aloud. Fat deposits in the shoulders and back are associated with the burden of the past, which a woman continues to carry on herself or a deep sense of guilt. Fat folds on the back in the lumbar region are an indicator of feelings of guilt and shame for one's misdeeds or mistakes. In general, the distribution of fat in the upper body is a reflection of increased responsibility for others, the desire to help everyone, often to the detriment of their own interests.

Psychosomatics explains the distribution of fat deposits in the lower part of the body as follows:

buttocks - lack of fulfillment in sexual life, excessive stubbornness, egocentrism;
belly - excessive concern, a large number of unrealized ideas that a woman carries in herself, some psychologists associate it with problems between mother and child;
hips - children's fears and resentments, infantilism or a sense of shame;
riding breeches - an area of meaningless accumulations, when a woman keeps relationships she does not need, goes to an unloved job, and saves unpleasant emotions.

Losing weight in women with psychological causes of obesity is possible only after careful work with a psychologist and psychotherapist who will help you find the root of the problems and understand yourself.

How to solve the psychological problem of excess weight

It is necessary to treat obesity, which is psychosomatic, together with a psychologist. But first you need to make sure that the problem has a psychological cause and is not associated with endocrine disorders or other diseases. To do this, they conduct an examination with a therapist and an endocrinologist.

Sometimes the impetus for successful weight loss is the conclusion of a diagnostician, which indicates a serious deterioration of internal organs. Often obesity of 2-3 degrees is accompanied by fatty hepatosis (obesity and impaired liver function), an increased risk of atherosclerosis, impaired glucose tolerance and a tendency to jumps in blood pressure at a young age.

For the treatment of psychosomatics, it is important to find an experienced psychologist who will help you find the causes of overeating and teach you to control your desires. This process takes a lot of time and is built from several stages, in which the psychologist will offer to perform certain exercises:

Identification of subpersonalities, one of which seeks to overeat, and the second - to control. In psychology, it is usually recommended to give them names and tune in to a dialogue during which you can determine the reasons why a woman overeats, how one side of her controls this process, and the other interferes.
Search for motivation, or the benefits of being overweight. A woman can blame obesity for the failures that happen to her. But subconsciously, she often justifies herself, looking for benefits in this position. Through this exercise, she can identify her needs, which she satisfies with excess weight, and find another way to satisfy them.
At the third stage, the psychologist suggests answering questions about being overweight, distributing the answers into columns with pluses and minuses. After making sure that the cons of obesity are greater, a woman can tune in to decisive weight loss.

Sometimes emotional problems or experiences are so significant that they require medication. The doctor may prescribe herbal sedatives that will not harm and help maintain mental balance. These can be valerian tablets, motherwort tincture, Novopassit or Persen. These drugs do not disrupt carbohydrate metabolism, unlike antidepressants.

In addition to finding the reason for eating high-calorie foods, with the help of psychology, you can try to refuse it if you build the right motivation. Psychological tricks work well when the same portion of food is crushed into small pieces. They visually look more voluminous than one large piece of meat or other dish. It helps to replace standard plates for eating with small ones that visually increase the amount of food.

With psychosomatic causes of excess weight, positive emotions are needed that will displace unpleasant experiences and help to survive stress. For reinforcements you can use:

creativity - drawing, singing, playing musical instruments, dancing - any direction that will help get rid of negativity or switch to good emotions;
sports - if obesity has not reached a severe stage, when physical activity worsens well-being, you can remember your old hobbies or find new ones. It can be team sports, martial arts or any other kind of activity;
hobby - helps not to eat high-calorie food, but to distract from troubles, switch attention to activities that give pleasure.

The results of weight loss for psychosomatic reasons must be recorded so that a woman sees changes for the better. But weighing should not be daily, because. body weight can fluctuate. It is better to get on the scale once a week to confirm the positive changes.

Additional measures for weight loss

It is impossible to lose weight with the help of psychology alone, it is necessary to reduce the calorie content of food and increase physical activity. To do this, a nutritionist or endocrinologist makes a special diet, in which there will be a calorie deficit of 10-20% of the daily requirement. The following foods are excluded from the diet:

pastries made from white flour, black bread, which increases fermentation in the intestines;
sweet in any form, it can be replaced with dried fruits or fresh fruits;
fatty meats;
any food that stimulates the appetite - spicy, smoked, carbonated and alcoholic drinks.

Be sure to normalize the drinking regimen, the female body needs at least 1.5 liters of water, and in hot weather, with active physical exertion, this amount can increase to 2-2.5 liters.

To lose weight, it is necessary to reduce the absorption of incoming fats. Therefore, for women with critical forms of obesity, the doctor may prescribe special drugs for weight loss. The effect has been proven in the following drugs:

fiber in various forms - increases the volume of intestinal contents, adsorbs part of the lipids and does not allow them to be absorbed, creates conditions for the reproduction of normal intestinal microflora, which synthesizes vitamins B and K;
Orlistat - inhibits the activity of lipases - enzymes that are involved in the breakdown of fats from food. Therefore, lipids come out naturally and are absorbed, which accelerates weight loss.

Various dietary supplements are used to help compensate for vitamin deficiencies and improve digestive function.

Physical activity with severe obesity is not always possible due to a large belly, voluminous hips that interfere with movement. Often women suffer from shortness of breath due to excess weight. Therefore, they begin to increase physical activity from exercise therapy, and after the appearance of positive dynamics and an increase in tolerance to stress, they switch to more active sports.

When to see a doctor

Often weight gain in women is accompanied not only by functional disorders, obesity is reinforced by other diseases. In this case, losing weight without the help of a doctor will not work, and sometimes it is necessary to treat the underlying pathology.

Being overweight and overeating can be one of the symptoms of severe depression. Why this form of the disease develops is not exactly known, but one of the factors in its development is a violation of the synthesis or metabolism of serotonin in the brain. Therefore, it is impossible to solve the problem without special preparations. With depressive disorders, herbal sedatives will not help, it is necessary to take antidepressants. These drugs are sold only by prescription and are selected individually. And for patients with excess body weight, tablets should not have a stimulating effect on appetite.

Large belly, fat shoulders, thin arms and legs are common signs of Cushing's disease or syndrome. This pathology is associated with a violation of the production of adrenal hormones, which determines the specific deposition of fat. Pathology is accompanied not only by obesity. Cushing's disease is characterized by a violation of carbohydrate metabolism and a tendency to develop diabetes, a pronounced immunodeficiency, and sexual disorders. You can lose weight only by eliminating hormonal imbalances. This often requires surgical removal of the tumor producing excess cortisol.

In women of reproductive age, obesity, which is accompanied by hirsutism, rashes on the face and menstrual irregularities, is an indicator of polycystic ovaries.

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Does depression cause weight gain