Depression And Obesity: Is There A Link?

Most of us know someone close who is battling a weight issue or more specifically, the bulge. Depression and feelings of low self-esteem are not uncommon among them. Do you blame the media for going gaga over our skinny celebs, encouraging people to harbor unrealistic perceptions about their bodies? Do you think that if the media didn't go around declaring "thin is in," the common man with weight issues would not be so obsessed with his shape or tie it to his sense of self-worth?

Depression And Obesity — Trends And Triggers

What comes first—depression or obesity? You may wonder in an obvious throwback to the chicken-or-the-egg question. But according to researchers, there is no simple answer because obesity and depression go hand-in-hand.

Being obese increases the risk of depression in a person. Obesity also aggravates the symptoms of depression in an individual already diagnosed with the condition. On the other hand, depression has been found to trigger obesity as well. A host of physiological, emotional, social, and behavioral mechanisms play a role in creating and sustaining the bi-directional relationship between depression and obesity.

Depression and obesity are critical public health concerns. This is evident from the slew of studies carried out to find out and explain the link between these two conditions. Depression and obesity are rampant across diverse population groups.

Depression And Obesity In Youths

Even children and adolescents do not seem to be immune to these disorders that were once considered "adult" health problems. Researchers suspect a connection between childhood obesity and depression that continues into adulthood. Depression that develops during the early-adolescent years increases the likelihood of a person developing obesity later in life. Late adolescent-onset obesity increases the chances of a person developing depressive disorders later in adulthood.

A host of variables like peer victimization, bullying, teasing and taunting, and social alienation can make obese children and adolescents depressed. What is disconcerting is that depressive disorders in adolescents tend to magnify rapidly because this population generally has poor coping skills and usually do not seek professional help readily, instead choosing to be moody, angry, and pessimistic, which in turn, invite more bullying.

The Physiological Causeway Between Depression And Obesity

Leading a sedentary lifestyle is one of the major triggers of obesity. Obesity brings on fatigue and a general disinclination towards physical activity. Furthermore, depression and especially feelings of social alienation have been known to drive youths to spend more time in front of the Internet, play video games, or watch television. Feelings of social alienation magnify depressive moods while reduced physical activity intensifies the problem of obesity. So the individual gets trapped in the vicious depression-obesity cycle.

See Also: Can We Blame Our Parents If We Are Overweight?

There are several biological triggers that sustain the depression-obesity cycle. Reduced sleep time or disturbed sleep is a characteristic symptom of many types of depression. Sleep deprivation has been linked to increased pangs of hunger and greater insulin resistance. Both these developments can not only cause diabetes but also make it difficult for a person to lose weight. Besides, insomnia triggers suicidal thoughts and worsens the symptoms of depression.

The Depression-Obesity Cycle Is Hard To Exit Once It Has Started

Physiological, behavioral, and emotional factors can work together in complicated ways to perpetrate the depression-obesity cycle. Binge eating increases the likelihood of a person becoming obese, and depression has been found to trigger compulsive eating episodes.

Negative moods drive many to seek comfort in food. "Comfort food" is usually rich in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates increase the level of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that has been proven to have mood-enhancing effects. So individuals actually experience a temporary high after binging on their comfort foods and become addicted to these. The next time they feel depressed, they reach out for these foods and eat them in abnormally large quantities. Unhealthy eating habits lead to obesity.

Obesity is the leading cause of a number of grave and potentially debilitating diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular illnesses. These diseases, if not managed, decrease the quality of life in patients. New research data show that being obese decreases the life expectancy by up to eight years and causes people to spend up to 20 years of their entire life being chronically sick. Not being able to lead a productive and fulfilling life can trigger depression in many individuals.

Depression And Obesity In Women

A positive relationship between obesity and depression exists irrespective of age and country of residence. However, this relationship seems to hold true more for women than for men.

It is also interesting to note that body image dissatisfaction (BID) plays a key role in the association between obesity and depression in case of women, according to a study carried out on a sample population of women aged between 40 and 65 years with varying levels of education. And it seems that mass media has a role to play in perpetrating a link between obesity and depression!

People today are bombarded with strong messages that link self-esteem and societal acceptance to thinness and youth. It is not surprising that aging women, middle-aged and upwards, feel increasing pressure to conform to these images of the ideal body. The women, at this stage of their lives, can no longer attain the skinny frames that they may have sported during their teenage years. The result is dissatisfaction with their bodies that ultimately gives way to depression. The same study demonstrated that in the US the Caucasian women are more vulnerable to the body image dissatisfaction than African-American women.

See Also: The Stigma Of Obesity: Does It Make Losing Weight Harder Or Easier?

The findings of the research studies that establish the positive relationship between depression and obesity emphasize that persons suffering from depression should receive psychiatric treatment immediately before their conditions trigger grave health problems. These studies also teach us that obese people are sometimes the victims of their minds.