The two things that are for sure affected by depression are food and mood. There is a close link between weight and depression that goes both ways. Depression mainly affects your mood which may cause weight loss or obesity. Weight changes can affect your emotions which ultimately lead to physical changes. This weight loss or gain makes you feel unmotivated and lowers your self-esteem. In this blog, we will see what is the link between weight gain and depression and how to manage it.
Weight Loss and Depression: Does Depression Cause Weight Loss?
Alterations in diet, hunger, and mood are the common symptoms of depression. Depression can do both, it can affect your appetite in both ways, increase it and make you fat, minimize your appetite, and cause weight loss.
Researchers now describe two types of depression. The first type of depression shows symptoms including a loss of appetite, weight loss, insomnia, and suicidal thoughts. There can be several reasons for losing weight in depression. Anxiety disorder is very common for people with depression. Around 41% of people with major depression also have an anxiety disorder at the same time. Anxiety is another condition that results in loss of appetite. People with depression are more likely to have an eating disorder.
Read More: What is Depression?
The second type of depression linked to weight shows symptoms including increased appetite and weight gain, a feeling of heaviness in the limbs, and hypersomnia. The reasons for weight gain include atypical depression which is linked to increased appetite and weight gain. Seasonal depression in the winter is also famous for making you depressed about weight gain. If someone has been depressed for a while and lives a fair lifestyle, weight gain is possible. Antidepressants can cause weight gain. Taking an antidepressant doesn’t guarantee you’ll gain weight, but it is a possibility.
Weight loss may occur if people lose interest or pleasure in eating, this can happen because of depression when you lose all your brain power to motivate yourself.
How does depression make you lose weight?
To answer the question: How does depression cause weight loss? We need to understand what factors affect depression and know the clear answer to questions like can depression make you lose weight? or can depression cause weight loss?
Mood Changes
Depression often results in mood changes. These mood changes can be of different types just like mood disorders. Let’s have a look at them and see if depression causes weight loss. These symptoms include feeling sad without any reason, feeling hopeless, or persistent feeling of no interest in anything. These mood changes can take control of your mind and your emotions affecting your health either causing depression weight gain or depression weight loss.
Other symptoms of depression that are seen among every patient include loss of interest in activities you usually enjoy, fatigue, decreased energy difficulty making decisions, sleeplessness, or hypersomnia.
Read More: The Effects of Depression on Mental Health
Physical Symptoms
Physical symptoms that help you lose weight when depressed include headaches which can affect your mood and make you feel sick and angry, and digestive problems which can lead to stomach pain, stomach pain, low energy levels, and unexplained pains in different parts of the body.
Medication Side Effects
Weight gain in depression can be a side effect of antidepressants, although medications may affect each person differently. It has been found that the risk of weight gain was greatest during people’s second and third years of taking antidepressants. Certain antidepressants may lead to weight loss in some people, while some medicines for depression cause obesity.
Other Potential Causes
Even when you are suffering from depression, weight loss from depression could have many other causes. The reasons might include grief, anxiety, and acute stress which can lead to appetite loss. Medications can also have weight loss as a side effect. Rapid or continued weight loss, especially over a short period can result in serious health issues.
Read More: The Eye-opening significance of Depression and Overeating
Can Depression Make it Harder to Lose Weight?
The loss of pleasure or interest in things a person may usually enjoy is a main indication of depression, also affecting eating patterns. It affects emotions that make it more difficult to lose weight, such as stopping a weight loss program. In people with obesity, your no-interest mood stops a weight loss program. Depression can affect sleep patterns, and people experiencing it may have difficulty sleeping. Insomnia can also be a side effect of some antidepressants. All these factors make it difficult to lose weight and make you even more depressed and negative affirmations come to your mind like “I’m fat and depressed”.
Other Reasons for Losing or Gaining Weight
Except for depression, there might be other reasons for the weight changes, these include:
- When you have an overactive thyroid, your body’s metabolism gets faster, and you experience weight loss.
- If you have digestive problems, it can cause weight changes in your body.
- Chronic illnesses result in unintentional weight loss.
- Aging is one of the factors that can make you gain or lose weight.
Coping Techniques for Depression and Weight Changes
Depression affects mental health and weight at the same time. If you are depressed due to weight gain or depressed because of weight loss, there are coping methods that can help you handle your depression and weight as well.
- Prioritize nutrition and whole-body wellness.
- Focus on small life changes to control depression and weight issues.
- If you are depressed about weight, talk to your loved ones daily to make yourself feel better.
- Try doing exercise daily for at least 30 minutes.
Read More: Weight and depression: What’s the link between them?
Solid Foundation Psychiatry for Depression Issues
Searching for answers for questions like: “How to lose weight while depressed?”, “Does depression make you lose your appetite?”, or “How to stay motivated to lose weight when depressed”, then you are at the right place. At Solid Foundation Psychiatry, we have the right team at the right time to help you take control of your mental health and weight gain at the same time. We offer solutions for your weight problems whether it is gaining or losing with evidence-based approaches. From psychiatric medication management to therapies and self-care treatments, we offer all.
Conclusion
Appetite and weight changes can influence mood and energy. It can also make managing depression symptoms a challenge. If you continue to live with depression-related weight loss or depression with weight gain, a therapist from Solid Foundation Psychiatry can offer guidance and support in improving your mood, which may, in turn, help you regain your appetite.