Depression and weight gain

nursedonna969

Hi all. I have a very common problem that I cannot control. I suffer from depression and anxiety. I take anti depressants which cause
me to be apathetic and gain weight. Then I'm more depressed about my weight and I eat more. Anyone got any useful words of
wisdom?

DDG0412

There are several things you can do:
1) Talk to your doctor about changing your medication. There are tons of antidepressants out there and, since everyone reacts differently, there might be one that doesn't cause apathy and weight gain.
2) Join a support group (for depression or weight loss).
3) Concentrate on eating healthy foods, then worry about caloric intake.
4) Start exercising three times a week.
5) You might not be able to control the depression, but you can control your reaction to it.
6) Find a good therapist, if you don't have one already, and work on this.

I also live with depression and find that diet and exercise make a bigger difference in my mood than any medication ever did. The key is being consistent. You don't have to change everything all at once - that can be overwhelming. Pick one thing to work on and when you've got it down, move onto another one. I find baby steps are much easier to manage when in the throws of a depression, than big ones. You didn't gain the weigh over night, you're not going to lose it over night. It's a process that takes as long as it needs to, no need to rush it. I have a great minimum/medium/maximum goal list that I use for things like this that I can share if you'd like.