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Why Obesity Causes Depression

Obesity and depression are strongly linked together, although many people don't realize that there is more than one reason for this. Obesity has many health hazards, and depression is one that can not be overlooked.

  1. What's the Connection?

    • There has been some debate over whether depression causes obesity or obesity causes depression. This is a "chicken or the egg" argument as the two are very much connected. Many times when a depressed obese individual has lost weight, the depression fades away as well.

    Psychological

    • Part of the reason obesity causes depression is psychological. Obese people tend to be very self conscious of their appearance, and that spills over to low self esteem, nervousness talking to "beautiful" people, and also opens the door for unfair self examination.

    Social

    • Social pressures definitely have a role in obese people being unhappy. If a person is shy or scared to socialize, that loneliness is going to cause depression. That lack of self-confidence is going to make it even harder to socialize, and the vicious cycle continues.

    Hormones

    • A person's hormones actually change when they are obese. The body works hard to keep the right balance, but in obese individuals that balance gets knocked askew and the body produces more cortisol, a stress hormone that increases stress and calls for the body to store more body fat. This hormone imbalance is a major reason why obesity causes depression, and why it can be so hard for obese individuals to pull out of those habits.

    Biological

    • There are plenty of biological reasons beyond hormones that help explain why obesity causes depression. The extra weight causes stress on bones, muscles and joints. This leads to more injuries or just more "soreness." This leads to being tired and in pain which will also contribute to depression.

    Societal

    • Finally, there are many societal reasons that obesity can cause depression. There are bullies who make fun of fat people and "beautiful" skinny people who will mock an obese person. There's huge societal pressure to be thin, and when an obese person is bombarded with these images, it may end up depressing them.

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