Obesity causes mental illness

Overweight: Exclusion favors mental illness

01/11/2015

Many obese people, who are already suffering from their overweight, often face additional prejudices and discrimination. According to a new study, this stigma may lead to depression, anxiety disorders and often even further weight gain.

Stigmatization can lead to further weight gain
Many people often experience prejudice, devaluation, social exclusion and discrimination because of their heavy obesity. This social stigma and the associated mental stress can lead to depression, anxiety disorders and often even further weight gain. This is the conclusion of a new study by scientists at the University of Leipzig. The researchers of the Integrated Research and Treatment Center for Obesity Diseases (IFB) in Leipzig recently published their findings in the journal „Obesity“.

Lowered self-esteem a risk factor for mental suffering
The team around Dr. Claudia Sikorski analyzed 46 scientific studies that examined the connection between the stigmatization of severely overweight people with mental stress and disorders. „Many risk factors for mental disorders are severe in people with obesity“, explained study director Sikorski. According to the expert, these risk factors are not something special for this group, „but people with obesity seem to have an increased frequency of these factors, also due to stigmatization“. In particular, the lowered self-esteem described in the studies is considered a major risk factor for mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety disorders.

Overweight people take a negative image of others as a self-image
Dr. Sikorski developed a model of the processes that lead to greater susceptibility of obese patients to mental illness. This is based on an explanation developed by Columbia University on the effects of stigmatization in homosexual people. Those affected would have reduced self-esteem as well as reduced coping ability. Added to this are other risk factors such as negative self-perception, increased loneliness and lack of social support. In addition, according to Sikorski, morbidly overweight men and women take the negative image of others, which is shown by the stigma, as a self-image. This is a major problem in the treatment of obesity, since sufferers need a lot of confidence in their own abilities and powers, especially in weight loss.

Discrimination also by the state
Past research has shown that the stigma and the self-stigma contribute to unfavorable eating habits and thus to the maintenance or aggravation of obesity. In addition to this vicious circle is often the experience of discrimination and discrimination in social and professional life. The same is true of different organizations. For example, the club chairman Gisela Enders of „Thickness e.V.“, said in an interview years ago that the state assumes that full-blooded people have an increased risk of disease and therefore often would not be licensed. Furthermore, according to her, prejudices and disadvantages also prevailed in the job centers and employment agencies. Jobseekers would immediately be in the drawer „it's hard to say“ plugged. Enders then demanded to include body weight in the EU's anti-discrimination guidelines.

In search of therapeutic approaches
Dr. Sikorski is looking for therapeutic approaches on how to break the vicious cycle of obesity stigma. „For improved obesity therapy, our work is important because we can not trust that the societal perceptions of people with obesity will improve in the foreseeable future. Therefore, we should point out to those affected ways and means of dealing with stigmatization. This should be as integral as possible to obesity therapy“, said the Leipzig scientist. In cooperation with the forsa opinion research institute, the team interviews Dr. Ing. Sikorski about 1,000 adults with obesity to their experiences with stigma and their handling of it. This should help to better understand how stigma is experienced, how it unfolds its negative impact and how those affected can handle it. (Ad)