Vegetarians are more likely to have mental health problems?

According to one study, mental disorders among vegetarians are said to be particularly common: a study without a causal outcome

01/09/2013

Vegetarians are increasingly suffering from mental health problems, according to a recent study. A German research team headed by Johannes Michalak from the Institute of Psychology at the University of Hildesheim has investigated "the connections between vegetarian nutrition and mental disorders". The scientists found that vegetarians have an "increased prevalence rate for depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and somatoform disorders". The researchers published their results in the journal "Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity"..

In their study, the scientists compared the mental health conditions of 244 vegetarians (completely vegetarian 54, mostly vegetarian 190) and 3,872 non-vegetarian participants in the Federal Health Survey (GHS-MHS). To enable a more meaningful comparison, the researchers from the participants of the GHS-MHS also formed a socio-demographically coordinated subsample of 242 subjects. This subsample was consistent with the Vegetarian Group in key factors such as gender distribution, age of subjects, place of residence, and single share. In this way, biasing factors should be excluded in the current study.

Vegetarians multiply with depression, anxiety disorders and psychosomatic illnessesn
Numerous studies have proven in the past that vegetarians are on average physically much healthier than meat eaters. However, the few existing studies that deal specifically with the psyche of vegetarians came to the conclusion that the latter, inter alia, more often suffer from depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and eating disorders. The informative value of the studies, however, was relatively limited, since the proportion of women on the part of vegetarians was always particularly high and women in general more often suffer from the above-mentioned mental illnesses than men. The result of this comparison was distortion, which could only be attributed to the different gender distribution in the experimental and control groups. The scientists around Johannes Michalak from the Institute of Psychology at the University of Hildesheim have now formed a socio-demographically adapted control group to exclude such distortions.

No causal relationship between vegetarian diet and mental health problems
However, the result of comparing the mental health of vegetarians and butchers remained the same as in previous studies, despite the adjusted control group. The vegetarians were more prone to mental disorders such as depression, somatoform disorders and anxiety disorders. However, many of the subjects already suffered from mental health problems before becoming a vegetarian. "In Western cultures, the vegetarian diet is associated with an increased risk of mental illness. However, there was no evidence for a causal role of the vegetarian diet in the etiology of mental disorders, "the researchers write in the journal" Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity "..

Spiritual attitude A cause for vegetarianism and increased mental suffering?
Since many of the subjects already had mental health problems before opting for a vegetarian diet, it seems reasonable to assume that there are psychological factors that increase both the choice of a vegetarian diet and susceptibility to mental illness. Thus, vegetarians usually get on the way of critical questioning their previous way of life or nutrition to the meat renunciation. This reflects a basic attitude that is supported by a certain doubt in the circumstances and an increased thoughtfulness. However, those who think little and have no doubts about their existence are likely to be much less vulnerable to these mental health problems. For example, the increased prevalence of mental disorder among vegetarians could be due to a mental attitude that ultimately influenced the decision to abstain from meat. (Fp)

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