Mental health and obesity linked
According to researchers, addressing mental health when treating obesity is essential. It is argued that obesity shares many of the same physical causes and long-term effects as mental illness, causing the two conditions to dovetail and exacerbate each other over time.
Dr. Arya Sharma, scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network, said that the relationship between the two is critical and is not often made clear to patients. "In assessing someone for obesity, you need to assess mental health as your number one priority before you even start thinking about what people eat and how much people move," he said. "Because right away you can assume that if there's a mental health problem going on, managing weight is going to be very difficult."
In Dr. Sharma's opinion, people struggling with obesity often contend with mental stresses, from body image issues to mood disorders, all of which affect efforts to lose weight since mood has a direct impact on metabolism. Thus, adding negative emotional turns can make it harder for the body to process certain foods.
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