How does being overweight affect depression levels in people?
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Many that are overweight do not realize that they are seriously overweight until it is diofficult for them to get rid of the extra weight. This makes them depressed and upset with their self-image, they try to ignore it and seek pleasure-giving behaviors to combat the depression. Food almost always gives pleasure, so many overweight people eat to combat the depression. This is the beginning of a vicious circle where eating makes them happy, but more overwieght, which causes more depression, which starts the cycle again. Many chronically overweight people are then "food addicts" for the above reasons.
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Depression is a common condition, 15% of the population will suffer from clinical depression at some point in their lives.\n\nEverybody has periods where they feel low, or down. These are normal emotions, and appropriate after bad news, bereavement and so forth.   However, depression – the illness, is persistent, and help is required to recover. The difference with depression is when the unhappiness is without cause, or lasts much longer and is out of proportion to circumstances, or seems beyond the sufferers personal control to manage.\n\nDepression affects people differently.  Some are mildly affected – often known as dysthymia,  and manage to function despite their condition.  Others may be severely depressed and find it very difficult to carry out even the most basic tasks., such as washing and dressing.\n\nThere are also different types of depression, such as the episodes of depression, followed by elation in manic depression  (bipolar affective disorder, SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and PND (post natal depression).\n\nSpike Milligan and Winston Churchill were two famous manic depressives.  Depression is not selective of class, status or upbringing.\n\nSYMPTOMS\n\nSymptoms are many, varied and not all sufferers will exhibit the same problems. They may include:\n\nContinual low mood\nFeeling of inadequacy\nFeeling “tearful” and “emotional”\nIrritability\nAnger / aggression\nAnxiety\nLack of motivation\nLack of social interest\nPoor personal care\nIrrational / guilty thoughts\nFeeling of hopelessness\nSuicidal thoughts\nTired all the time\nLoss of appetite / weight\nComfort eating\nInability to sleep\nDisturbed sleep\nLoss of concentration\nSleeping too much / not waking refreshed\nLoss of libido\nAvoiding people / social situations\nLack of energy\nFeeling physically ill\nExtreme lethargy\nBleak and pessimistic view of the future\n\nN.B. Anxiety and depression are closely linked. Anxiety can cause depression, and depression can cause anxiety.\n\n\n\nSO WHY DO I FEEL LIKE THIS?\n\nDepression is a complex illness, and can occur for several reasons.\n\nIn a person suffering from depression, levels of neuro-transmitters are lowered. One of these is serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5HT).\n\nIt can be triggered as a result of a number of causes:\n\nSocial Circumstances\nUnemployment, divorce or break down of relationship, bereavement, redundancy, sudden/dramatic change to personal circumstances\n\nPhysical Conditions\n\nGlandular fever, influenza, anaemia, diseases such as multiple sclerosis, severe arthritis,  and treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy\n\nHormonal Changes\nPregnancy, resulting in PND – about 10% of all women experience significant PND.  Depression presents more commonly in women (this may also be because men are more reluctant to visit their doctor)\n\nPsychological Conditions\nSufferers of anxiety may also find they develop depression. Unresolved psychological issues also contribute. About 60% of people suffering chronically with anxiety and panic will also develop associated depression.\n\nDrug and Alcohol Abuse\n\nWHAT TREATMENTS ARE AVAILABLE?\n\nEach sufferer is an individual, and treatments vary.  Many people combine treatments for optimum effect, i.e. medication and counselling. The preferred choice at present is SSRI’s along with CBT. The medication is to lift the mood enough to be able to take on board and learn skills needed to overcome the condition long term.\n\nThe first step is to visit your GP. They can confirm your diagnosis and ensure your depression does not have a physical cause.  You must be prepared to be honest with yourself and your GP. If you have some unresolved issues, medication alone will not provide a cure, and your GP can recommend you for  some form of therapy.\n\nTherapy\nThis may include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or counselling.  All health authorities have a Community Mental Health Team, who will be able to select and provide appropriate trea
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The answers above kind of summarize the answer. It depends what anti-depressant your on. Each person responds a little different to different medications. Some people will report no side effects, others have lots. If you are concerned about the weight gain, I'd talk to your prescribing physician and ask if there are alternative medications that he/she feels would be help and may not cause you to gain weight. Many of the newer anti-depressants (e.g., Effexor) have less side effects.
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There are definite changes in the way the brain works when a person is depressed:\n\n1. Modern brain scans that can look at how 'hard' the brain is working have shown that some areas of the brain (such as at the front) are not working as well as normal.\n\n2. Depressed patients have higher than normal levels of stress hormones.\n\n3. Various chemical systems in the brain may not be working correctly including one known as the serotonin or 5-HT system.\n\nAntidepressants may help to reverse these changes. Unfortunately there is no brain scan or blood test that can be used to diagnose when a person has a depressive illness. The diagnosis can only be made from the symptoms. Generally speaking a diagnosis of depression will be made if a person has a persistently low mood that significantly influences their everyday life and has been present for two weeks or more, and there are also three or four or more other symptoms of depression. \n\nStress can lead to you to feeling 'down' and 'miserable'. What is different about a depressive illness is that these feelings last for weeks or months, rather than days. In addition to feeling low most or all of the time, many other symptoms can occur in depressive illness (though not everybody has every one). These include:\n\n-Being unable to gain pleasure from activities that normally would be pleasurable.\n-Losing interest in normal activities, hobbies and everyday life.\n-Feeling tired all of the time and having no energy.\n-Difficulty sleeping or waking early in the morning (though some feel that they can't get out of bed and 'face the world').\n-Having a poor appetite, no interest in food and losing weight (though some people overeat and put on weight - 'comfort eating').\n-Losing interest in sex.\n-Finding it difficult to concentrate and think straight.\n-Feeling restless, tense and anxious.\n-Being irritable.\n-Losing self-confidence.\n-Avoiding other people.\n-Finding it harder than usual to make decisions.\n-Feeling useless and inadequate - 'a waste of space'.\n-Feeling guilty about who you are and what you have done.\n-Feeling hopeless - that nothing will make things better.\n-Thinking about suicide - this is very common. If you feel this way, talk to somebody about it. If you think somebody else might be thinking this way, ask them about it - IT WILL NOT MAKE THEM MORE LIKELY TO COMMIT SUICIDE.\n\nWhat causes depression?\n\n-We do not fully understand the causes of depression.\n-Genes or early life experiences may make some people vulnerable.\n-Stressful life events, such as losing a job or a relationship ending, may trigger an episode of depression.\n-Depression can be triggered by some physical illnesses, drug treatments and recreational drugs.
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Depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the body.
1113919
Diabetes is an auto-immune dysfunction and depression is as well.  When your system is acidic and your sugars are not balanced you feel depressed.  \nLet me know if you would like more information on this....
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They don't always show a visable change in happyness level, sometimes that can stay the same and a person suffering from depression can come accross like they always have done. However, often a person may start to value their time alone more and be more reluctant to mix with other people, especially those they do not. Their eating habbits might change also, but everyone reacts different and there isn't a real way of diagnosing it, for want of a better word. You have to talk to a person, listen to their issues and make a fair judgement yourself. I suppose if your worried about someone you tell them, and ask them whats going on. But there is no way you can definitely decide whether someone is suffering from depression.
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Yeah people are obsessed with weight. 'Fat people', as you put it, are only more likely to be unhappy because they won't feel as good in terms of health or as confident about themselves - and also there are many ignorant people who think that fat people can/should be treated like muck -who make life miserable for those 'fat people'. It doesn't follow that skinny people are automatically happy, being thin is not everything. But however if you are a healthy weight and fairly active you do feel more fit and well and just alive, its hard to describe but a great way to be. To answer your question, 'skinny people' maybe happier about their weight than 'fat people' - but your weight is only a very small aspect of your life isn't it?! We shouldn't write people off because of their size / weight etc - there are many different reasons as to why people are as they are and it doesn't change their personality or character. Look for the smile - forget the weight - there is a great person in there.
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being fat\nit hits u emotionally and physically
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Ummm I definitely know people who have gained weight on it.  Most anti-depressants have that side effect.  It depends on who you are...it doesn't affect everyone.
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No. As a depressant it is more likely to cause you to gain weight.
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Depression is more than just the normal, temporary feelings of sadness and hopelessness associated with difficult life events. The symptoms of depression are often subtle at first. It can be hard to recognize that symptoms may be connected and that you might have depression. Common symptoms include:\n\nDepressed mood.\nInability to enjoy activities.\nProblems concentrating.\nChanges in eating habits or appetite.\nWeight gain or weight loss.\nChanges in sleeping habits.\nDifficulty going to work or taking care of your daily responsibilities because of a lack of energy.\nFeelings of guilt and hopelessness; wondering if life is worth living (common).\nSlowed thoughts and speech.\nPreoccupation with thoughts of death or suicide.\nComplaints that have no physical cause (somatic complaints) such as headache and stomachache.\n\nAll of these symptoms can interfere with your quality of life. Even if you don't have major depression, if you have experienced a few of these symptoms for at least 2 weeks you may have a less severe form of depression that still requires treatment.
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Depression can be a result of a biological predisposition  due to low levels of serotonin, or the simple result of a persons mental focus, wherein they cycle over negative subjects in their minds until they instill negative beliefs that ill-effect them personally and combinations thereof.
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Hi Boo2U. A poor diet can definitely worsen depression. At many times depression is even caused by lack of vitamins ex: vitamin B, Folic acid and selenium. Also omega 3 fatty acids are key to prevent depression
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People are depressed because we're not getting enough positive stuff into our brains.\n\nWe need to turn off the TV, stop accepting communications <e-mails, phone, visits> from those negative family/friends, and stop listening to negative music.\n\nPeople are complaining that we're a fat generation...we'll were also getting fat in our emotions.  Just like when you eat a bag of chips is getting you physically fat, so is playing video games that kill people, or watching "Desparate House Wives" and getting negative perspectives on life.  If you fill your brain with this junk, you'll get depressed. \n\nOf course, there is different types of depression which doctors are helpful with, but I'd say, we have stuck too much junk in the brain, and are suffering from it.
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"Overweight and obesity substantially raise the risk of illness from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke, gallbladder disease, arthritis, sleep disturbances and problems breathing, and certain types of cancers."\nSame article:\n    *  premature death\n    * type 2 diabetes\n    * heart disease\n    * stroke\n    * hypertension\n    * gallbladder disease\n    * osteoarthritis (degeneration of cartilage and bone in joints)\n    * sleep apnea\n    * asthma\n    * cancer (endometrial, colon, kidney, gallbladder, and postmenopausal breast cancer)\n    * high blood cholesterol\n    * complications of pregnancy\n    * menstrual irregularities\n    * hirsutism (presence of excess body and facial hair)\n    * stress incontinence (urine leakage caused by weak pelvic-floor muscles)\n    * increased surgical risk\n    * psychological disorders such as depression\n    * psychological difficulties due to social stigmatization
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Have you ever heard of self esteem. Well that seems to be what you are lacking. You shouldn't be worried about what's going on around you and what someone else is thinking but what you feel. If you feel your overweight YOU need to do something about it. You need to be better for you to become a better person. AND PLEASE FOR GOD SAKE'S YOU DO NOT NEED A MAN! If anything you need to leave them alone for awhile and do for you. Work on you. From a ladi that's been there. Care about home first then invite someone to visit.