Depression and Eating Eva Manuse Fat Bastard- "I eat because I'm depressed and I'm depressed because I eat"

Story: I grew up with this girl who was always depressed even though she always had a smile on her face. When we were younger I always noticed how she would have nothing but a plain bagel and maybe some raw carrots for lunch. These days she doesn’t eat at all and her depression has escalated. By witnessing this I feel the two do relate to one another. Personal story: When I am depressed I don’t eat. And I am depressed most of the time. If not depressed I am usually quite anxious that I will throw up if I eat. I lost a lot of weight from not eating for a while that my friends even began to notice. So I take this issue to heart. That is way I decided to do this topic.

The Connection: Eating disorders can lead to depression and depression can lead to eating disorders. The two connect in many ways. When someone is malnourished it can cause physiological changes that are known to negatively affect mood states in people. When one feels bad about themselves they may see themselves in negative ways, such as fat or even too thin that they may begin to either stop eating or attain any of the other major eating disorders. When someone has an eating disorder such as bulimia (eating disorder in which you throw up after you eat to become thinner). They may feel disgusted with themselves after they vomit causing severe depression.

Mood and Eating: Some people tend to eat when they are upset and others such as myself tend to not eat at all if I am stressed out. People may get upset with there eating habits and just stop eating overall. “People with depression often use food to self-medicate,” says Jean Fain, LICSW, MSW, a licensed psychotherapist in Concord, Mass., and author of The Self-Compassion Diet: A Step-by-Step Program to Lose Weight with Loving-Kindness. “They may eat to improve or avoid negative or uncomfortable feelings, like sadness, shame, and self-loathing.” –This quote means that people who are depressed may use food as an escape, like others who choose to harm their body to release the pain. However eating too much can cause health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and serious heart problems. In return, this may cause depression in people because they may now stress about how their body is falling apart.

THE BRAIN: SO for people who eat to feel better: –Their brain sees food as a drug. The reward pathway in the brain is stimulated by neuron dopamine. –In an experiment done with mice: The scientist feed mice food and afterwards studied their emotions and behavior. Mice that were given foods that contained a lot of fat and sugar seemed to be more depressed because they were slow and didn’t try to escape like they used to. It was found that the mice that were given these unhealthy foods had a high level of a hormone in their body called corticosterone, which is a hormone associated with stress.

Childhood: As a child your family is most influential in your life most likely. Some families may overuse food as a way of comfort so when the child grows up they keep those habits since that is what they were nurtured to do, eat to feel better. They grow up believing that upsetting feelings and unhappiness can be cured with food that the food can suppress those horrible emotions they feel. When the child gets to school and their weight is an issue kids can be mean and bully the child, who will now go home and eat their feelings away just to be teased and eat more the next day.

Treatment: Cognitive behavioral therapy- it helps to learn why you are depressed before you can work on fixing eating habits Seek activities that boast energy so you feel better and happier Find another way to help yourself relax if you binge a lot when you are depressed Eat healthier foods! People who suffered from anorexia were given antidepressants to help them. The drugs worked to keep most of them from relapsing.

Overall the main idea is that eating and depression do positively correlate with one another. With one comes the other.

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