Work With A Licensed Therapist
Work with professionals who will guide you in learning ways to manage stress and weight-related issues. If youâre suffering from anxiety due to prolonged stress and feel your weight or physical health is being affected, a licensed therapist can help you. With compassion and expertise, licensed therapists are equipped to help you develop positive and healthy eating habits. You can read reviews of some BetterHelp therapists below, from people experiencing similar issues.
Counselor Reviews
âShana is a very helpful and thoughtful counselor. Shana not only helped me work through my immediate problems but discussed a path forward so that I could find more time to enjoy myself and manage the stress and anxiety in the future. I really appreciate her counseling.â
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Does Depression Affect Metabolism
Depression is not physically or biologically caused, but is rather caused by different environmental factors. The problem is that people with depression often do not take care of their health. This then leads to several health complications, including weight gain and lowered metabolism. Depression is caused by overactivity of the stress hormone, cortisol. This hormone affects the brain, which leads to lowered levels of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin..
Benefits Of Weight Loss For Your Mind
We put a lot of emphasis on our looks in social environments and personal relationships, and losing weight can improve our perception of ourselves.
Losing weight helps improve many aspects of your emotional health, such as sleep, energy, vitality, and mood. All of these can have a direct impact on your confidence, personal outlook, body image, sex life, and social life.
Losing weight also improves many of the chronic conditions that can contribute to depression and other mental illnesses, which can lead to reducing or removing medications for treating those issues. The improvement in this case does increase with the amount of weight you lose and keep off.
Its important to know that while long-term weight loss is a great health benefit, its also a lifestyle change. Many people who lose weight with fad diets experience short-term success, but will regain the weight over time. Setting long-term goals for diet, exercise, and other lifestyle changes can make a huge difference in your physical and mental health.
If youre ready to embrace a thinner, healthier you, make an appointment with Dr. Veiseh today to see what his weight loss plan can do for you. Call our office or request an appointment online.
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Your Bodys Fight Or Flight Response Can Speed Up Your Metabolism
When youre stressed, your body goes into fight or flight mode. Also known as the acute stress response, this physiological mechanism tells your body it must respond to a perceived threat.
Your body readies itself by releasing hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline prepares your body for vigorous activity, but it can also minimize your desire to eat.
Meanwhile, cortisol signals for your body to temporarily suppress functions that are nonessential during a crisis. This includes your digestive, immune, and reproductive system responses.
Why Antidepressants Affect Weight
One reason antidepressants can cause changes in weight is that some of these medicines impact appetite pathways. Antidepressants that cause weight loss may do so by causing your appetite to decrease. Those that cause weight gain may stimulate the appetite instead.
Depression itself can also affect your activity levels, food choices, and sleep habitsall of which affect weight. So, as the medication begins to reduce feelings of depression, these behaviors can also change. As these behaviors change, you may find that you gain or lose weight.
Your family history may even impact whether your weight will change while taking an antidepressant. For instance, one study found that a family history of obesity helps predict weight gain when taking this type of drug.
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Do Something You Find Enjoyable
When it comes to weight loss and exercise, options are endless. We have plenty of exercises to do and workouts to try. Dont do some exercise for the sake of it, do it because you like it. Somehow were led to believe that only certain types of exercises or activities can help us lose weight and eventually manage depression. Then, we do things we dont really like and end up losing our motivation to continue. One way to avoid this scenario is to find exercises, activities, and workouts you find enjoyable. Theres always something you like, exercises and activities you find fun. Focus on those particular activities, and youll notice motivation keeps growing. Thats because youre doing something you like and its natural to want to keep doing it.
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Can Stress Stop You From Losing Weight
Studies have proven that stress can be a contributing factor to keeping you from losing weight. In fact, stress can actually prevent your body from telling your brain that you are full. When you are stressed, your body secretes high levels of cortisol, a hormone that causes you to hold on to fat. If you want to lose weight, you need to make sure your cortisol levels are normal and not high. You can do this by making sure you get a good nights sleep, a healthy diet and a healthy workout routine..
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The Relationship Between Weight And Mood
Recent research shows a bidirectional relationship between weight gain and depression where one may cause or exacerbate the other and vice versa. However, there are many potential reasons for this relationship that can vary from person to person, including genetics, surroundings and stress levels. An unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle could also be to blame, as both can negatively alter your bodys immune responses, brain structure and function, leading to an increased risk of obesity and depression alike, says Ma.
Its easy to see how you can get caught in a vicious cycle where each condition worsens the other, says Katie Rickel, PhD, a clinical psychologist and CEO of Structure House, a residential weight-management facility in Durham, North Carolina. For some people, depression could lead to obesity, as it may make you feel more lethargic and cause cravings for high-calorie comfort foods. A lack of activity paired with overeating can easily lead to weight gain. As your body changes, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness can become even more overwhelming. Weight stigma, along with a downtick in self-esteem, could also lead you to spend less time with others , she explains.
Can Weight Gain Cause Depression
When you gain weight, it could make your existing depression feel worse, reinforcing a tricky cycle, says Lena Suarez-Angelino, a licensed clinical social worker in Woodbridge, New Jersey.
Those that experience changes in weight may hear comments from others about their appearance, she explains. Additionally, negative self-talk, body dysmorphia, and poor body image increase as a result of weight changes, which then can cause or contribute to feelings of depression.
A 2019 study suggests that the social stigma attached to weight gain may increase feelings of anxiety and depression in young adults, specifically females.
Research from 2018 shows that weight changes are a common side effect of antidepressant medications, as they can influence how your metabolism functions.
A of 27 studies found that several antidepressant and antipsychotic medications increased body mass index by more than 7%, considered clinically significant.
The cited medications included:
- sense of hopelessness
- feeling unworthy
Another factor could be anhedonia, which is the loss of pleasure in things that you normally enjoy doing, says Sierra Dator, a licensed clinical social worker in Petaluma, California.
For many people, exercise and cooking healthy meals are activities that bring them joy, she says. However, when a depressive episode , you may lose interest in these healthy activities.
You may also have adopted new coping mechanisms that impact your weight, she adds.
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Hyperstimulation Can Lead To Gastrointestinal Distress
Your body slows digestion during the fight or flight response so it can focus on how to respond to the stressor.
This can lead to gastrointestinal discomfort, such as:
Chronic stress can amplify these symptoms and result in other underlying conditions, like irritable bowel syndrome.
These changes to your digestive system may cause you to eat less, subsequently losing weight.
Depression And Loss Of Appetite
Depression can affect our appetite and change the relationship that we have with food. It can cause us to eat unhealthily, eat more than usual and it can also lead to a loss of appetite.
Within this blog, we have focused on depression and a loss of appetite. If you have been struggling to eat because of depression, we will look at why this may be happening and what you can do to start making positive changes and getting the support that you need to start feeling better.
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Can Stress Cause Weight Loss Even When Eating
Yes, it can. We have all experienced it from time to time and it can be caused by different factors such as financial problems, pressure at work, family issues, romantic and platonic relationships, grief or loss, and other life changes. That being said, what exactly is stress? It is described as your bodys reaction to pressure from an event or situation . Other than weight loss, this reaction can manifest itself in the following ways :
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Concerning weight, stress could either cause you to gain or lose weight. This is mostly connected to appetite changes experienced during this time. A study done on 72 women aged 17 to 26 years old showed 81% of the women experienced a change in appetite when stressed and of those, 62% reported an increased appetite..
But what happens if you are stressed, are not experiencing appetite changes, but are still losing weight without trying? How can stress cause weight loss even when eating and making healthy food choices?
Reasons Why Depression And Weight Gain Or Weight Loss Are Connected
The mind and body are connected and function as one whole. They affect each other and move with each other. What happens in your brain impacts your gut and vice versa. Similarly, your own life experiences are processed by not just your brain but by your whole system. This is the fundamental reason for the association between weight loss, weight gain, and depression.
Depression and weight are biological, at least in part. Just two examples of the connection:
- The neurotransmitter serotonin is important in mood regulation. We think of it as part of the brains chemistry, which it is, but did you know that about 90 percent of serotonin is produced in the gut ?
- The limbic system in the brain is responsible for both emotion and appetite. This could be a strong reason why depression impacts each. A voracious appetite and a meager one directly affect weight.
Depression isnt solely biological, of course, so weight changes arent either. Other contributing factors to depression and weight loss or weight gain include:
There are sound reasons why depression weight loss and weight gain happen. That doesnt mean that theyre inevitable, however, and if you do experience unwelcome weight changes with depression, you can reverse them.
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How Can Depression Cause Weight Loss
Well, it is simple math to know how depression can cause weight loss. According to Dr. Leslie Heinberg, depression symptom includes, appetite disturbances! This is a serious factor that can lead to weight loss, because, people react differently to depression.
The folks losing weight are those that lose appetite when depressed, thereby causing them to eat less. Which will often than not lead to unhealthy weight loss. Weight loss occurs because the affected person has lost interest in pleasure and so would also lose interest in eating.
Having an eating disorder is a medical condition called anorexia nervosa, which is mostly associated with depression. It is further explained that people that have this kind of problem are always fine when they are fed.
Here is another quote by Dr Leslie In patients with low weight, the brain becomes starved and they develop symptoms that meet the criteria for depression she also added Often, once you feed them, the depression goes away. its resolved, and its generally resolved quickly.
Depression Causes Weight Loss
People who are suffering from depression may experience cognitive distortions that lead to changes in eating habits. Some of these symptoms can be very severe. Psychiatrist Sierra Dator, a licensed clinical social worker in Petaluma, California, notes that people with depression may crave foods high in carbohydrates and sugar. Eating these foods may increase serotonin levels in the brain, which can lead to weight gain.
If youre worried that your weight loss could be related to depression, you should talk to your doctor to get a proper diagnosis and a treatment plan. Its important to understand that the environment can also be a factor since people who live in food swamps are more likely to be obese. Talking to your primary care provider may help them determine if another type of antidepressant can help manage your depression.
Depression affects impulse control, which may lead to poorer eating habits and risky behaviors. Cortisol, which is released by the body during stress, also inhibits appetite. Chronically high levels of cortisol may lead to higher insulin levels, which can make it more difficult to lose weight.
In addition to regular exercise, you should take medication to help you cope with depression. These medicines can also help you lose weight.
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How To Manage Depression
Weight gain or weight loss isnt something to feel ashamed about. Youre doing the very best you can with the tools that you have.
At the same time, if you want to manage your weight for your own personal reasons , thats OK.
Several actionable tips may help you manage your weight while living with depression.
Depression Medication That May Cause Weight Loss And Weight Gain
Certain medications are commonly known to affect body weight more than others. Below is a list of medications that have been found most likely to cause weight changes.
Antidepressants that may cause weight gain:
Antidepressants that may cause weight loss:
Of the above medications associated with weight loss, Bupropion is the most linked to weight loss. Fluoxetine has been connected to weight loss in some cases, but may then lead to weight gain in the long term. The link between Duloxetine and weight loss is inconsistent.
Not all patients who take antidepressants will gain weight. However, weight gain is a possible side effect of certain antidepressants. For patients who are looking for an alternative to antidepressants, TMS is a medication-free, noninvasive procedure that provides relief from depression symptoms without the side effects associated with antidepressants.
Resources:
1. Needham BL, Epel ES, Adler NE, and Kiefe C. Trajectories of change in obesity and symptoms of depression: the CARDIA study. Am J Public Health. 2010 100:1040-1046. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20395582/. Accessed December 27, 2020.
2. Luppino FS, de Wit LM, Bouvy PF, Stijnen T, Cuijpers P, Penninx BWJH, Zitman FG. Overweight, obesity, and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010 Mar 67:220-229. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20194822/. Accessed December 27, 2020.
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Can Less Sleep Cause Weight Loss
In a way, yes. Researchers from the University of Chicago found that poor sleep quality can increase a persons weight by an average of 3.3 pounds within a few months. They also discovered that people who sleep a lot but have a poor quality of sleep will likely gain a lot of weight. Other recent research has shown that a good nights sleep helps you manage your weight more effectively. .
How Antidepressants Affect Weight Loss
Roughly 13 percent of Americans over the age of 12 take antidepressant medications. If youre one of them, your medication can help ease common symptoms of depression and anxiety to improve your quality of life. Unfortunately, like all medications, antidepressants pose a risk for side effects, including weight gain and weight loss challenges. Understanding how antidepressants affect your weight allows you to choose the right approach to diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes to set you up for lasting weight loss success.
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Does Depression Cause Weight Loss Or Weight Gain
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By Dr. David Woo – January 29, 2021
When you search for the symptoms of depression, youll likely see both weight loss and weight gain. So, which is it? The answer is: it depends on the person. While some people with depression will gain weight, others will lose weight. Below well explore the role of depression in weight changes.
Rules: Can Depression Make You Lose Weight
What rules should be followed: Begin gradually . Do not start abruptly. The more sharply you start moving towards your goal, the sooner you will return to the habitual way of life. Only discipline will help you achieve the goal can depression make you lose weight. Be disciplined . You gained weight for a long time. Therefore, to lose it you need to have patience. In the question: can depression make you lose weight be patient .
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