Weight and Mental Health
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How Does Serotonin Affect Weight?
There are 2 major types of serotonin. Serotonin in the brain can curb cravings, shut down appetite, and make you feel more satisfied. However, the other type of serotonin, peripheral serotonin that may be increased in large part by eating a high fat diet, can actually lead to obesity, and diabetes. What is Serotonin Serotonin is a chemical that nerve cells produce. It sends signals between your nerve cells.It is believed that serotonin plays a role in regulating your mood. Serotonin is often called the “happy chemical”, because it is believed to contribute to well being and happiness. The intestines and the brain produce serotonin. Serotonin is also present in…
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What Depression Medication Makes You Gain Weight?
What are Psychiatric Drugs? Psychiatric, or psychotropic drugs, are used to treat mental health disorders. They work by adjusting the number of major chemicals in the brain. Decreasing or increasing certain neurotransmitters can help to counter the affects of certain mental health disorders. Neurotransmitters are the messengers that allow your brain to communicate with each other. Psychiatric medication is not a cure, it can only treat mental health disorders, and are sometimes more effective when combined with therapy. There are five main types of psychiatric medications. These are anti-anxiety medications, antidepressants, antipsychotics, stimulants, and mood stabilizers. Stimulants help with unorganized behavior, they help with concentration and have a calming effect.…
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Do Anti-Anxiety Medications Cause Weight Gain?
Classic anti-anxiety medications such as benzodiazepines show no association with weight gain. However, antidepressants, which are often prescribed as a first line treatment for anxiety, can lead to a high level of weight gain. First of all, I am not a doctor. I am just somebody who has taken different types of psychiatric medications, and struggled with weight gain from some of them. Anti-anxiety meds are a type of psychiatric, or psychotropic, medication. They regulate the brain chemicals that regulate emotions and thought patterns. There are five main types of psychiatric medications, of which anti-anxiety medications are one type. The other types are antipsychotics, stimulants, antidepressants, and mood stabilizers. Many…
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How Can I Not Gain Weight on Psych Meds?
To not gain weight on psychiatric medications, first of all, talk to your doctor about changing your medication if it is causing rapid weight gain to one that does not cause weight gain for you, or a more manageable level of weight gain. If your medication is causing milder weight gain, consider trying Metformin, especially if you are on antipsychotics. And, as is always good advice, consider eating healthier, and moving more. What are Psychiatric Medications? I’m not a medical doctor, but having struggled with mental health and taking many drugs over the years, these are things that I have learned about through personal experience. Psychiatric medications are medications that…
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Why Do People Gain Weight on Psych Meds?
People gain weight on psychiatric medication due to increases in appetite and craving for carbohydrate rich food, decreased physical activity due to sedating effects of the medication, and changes in metabolism. Types of Psychiatric Medications There are four main types of psych meds. They are antidepressants, antipsychotics, sleeping pills and minor tranquilizers, and lithium and other mood stabilizers. We’ll give a brief definition of each of the types. Antidepressants are psychiatric drugs that are licensed to treat depression, sometimes they are also used to treat anxiety disorders, phobias, or things like long term pain. Antidepressants work by boosting the activity of particular brain chemicals. This includes noradrenaline and serotonin, neurotransmitters…
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Why do Depressed People Gain Weight?
Depressed people gain weight for a variety of reasons. These taking antidepressant drugs that cause weight gain, emotional eating, decreased interest in physical activity and exercise, increased levels of cortisol and inflammation, and increased appetite and craving carbs. Depression is a common and serious mental illness. Globally, about 5% of adults suffer from depression. It negatively affects the way that somebody feels, the way they think, and the way they act. It can greatly decrease a person’s ability to function. Symptoms can be mild or severe or anywhere in between. Some symptoms include: feeling sad, losing interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed, trouble sleeping, or sleeping too much, increased…
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Does Loneliness Cause Weight Gain?
Loneliness can cause weight gain, mostly due to emotional eating. What is Loneliness? Almost everybody feels lonely at times. There are several different interpretations of loneliness. One way to describe loneliness is that it is the feeling that happens to us when our need for rewarding relationships and social contact is not met. Loneliness is not the same as being alone, however. You can be alone, and be very happy even without seeing other people a lot. Or you can constantly be around people, or even in large crowds, but still feel lonely. Loneliness is a state of distress that occurs when a person perceives a gap between their desire…
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How are Anxiety and Weight Related?
Anxiety can lead to both weight loss, or weight gain. There are conflicting reports about whether weight loss can result in a change in anxiety levels, with many studies finding that weight loss neither increases, nor decreases anxiety. Anxiety is a tricky subject. It is a common ailment, many people suffer from it, including myself at times. Anxiety is generally referred to as a feeling of dread, fear, or uneasiness. It is characterized by worried thoughts, tension, and physical changes like increased blood pressure. There is a difference between having occasional anxiety, and having an anxiety disorder. Experiencing occasional anxiety is pretty normal, it happens to most people, but people…
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Does Losing Weight Make You Happier?
For most people, losing weight does seem to make them happier, because then their weight is one less thing to worry about, it provides a sense of accomplishment, and can allow the individual to feel more comfortable in their body. My Experience A couple times in my life I have lost 20+ pounds of weight. The first time was after I came home from the Virgin Islands when I was 19. I had been away from home for my first extended period of time, I studied abroad there. I was away from my Mom’s home cooked food, and in the school dining hall ate everything in front of me. Kind…
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How to Lose Weight When You Feel Hopeless
To lose weight when you feel hopeless, you can identify the root cause of the hopelessness, which may involve seeking professional help, take the process one day at a time, and not beat yourself up for backslides. I certainly know what it feels like to be hopeless. There have been multiple times in my life where I felt absolutely and completely hopeless. I was in so much agony that I did not know how I would ever come out alive, or have anything resembling a life again. Sometimes, I still feel a bit hopeless at times. But I think that I have gotten through the worst of it, I have…
