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Depression and Disordered Eating in the Obese Person

  • Psychological Issues (M Hetherington and V Drapeau, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Three mental health problems commonly associated with obesity are major depression, binge eating disorder (BED), and night eating syndrome (NES). Evidence from both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies support independent relationships between obesity and depression, and between obesity and binge eating. These problems are most prevalent in severely obese individuals (class III obesity; a body mass index (BMI) of >40 kgm2), many of whom seek bariatric surgery, and we briefly review whether the presence of pre-operative depression, BED or NES affects post-operative outcomes. Historically depressed individuals have been screened out of weight loss trials due to concerns of worsening mood with weight loss. Such practices have precluded the development of effective treatments for depressed, obese individuals, leaving large numbers of people without appropriate care. We present recent advances in this area, and attempt to answer whether depressed individuals can lose clinically significant amounts of weight, show improvements in mood, and adhere to the demands of a weight loss intervention.

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Acknowledgment

Lucy F. Faulconbridge receives research support from NIH (NHLBI K23 award; HL109235).

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Conflict of Interest

Lucy F. Faulconbridge and Colleen F. Bechtel declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

All studies by the authors involving human subjects were performed after approval by the appropriate Institutional Review Boards. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Weight and Eating Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Lucy F. Faulconbridge & Colleen F. Bechtel

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  1. Lucy F. Faulconbridge
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  2. Colleen F. Bechtel
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Correspondence to Lucy F. Faulconbridge.

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Faulconbridge, L.F., Bechtel, C.F. Depression and Disordered Eating in the Obese Person. Curr Obes Rep 3, 127–136 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-013-0080-9

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