Your emotional pain may not be the cause of your obesity
JECole2013
Posts: 65 Member
I read a great article ... actually .. it was the booklet given to doctors with all they need to know on how to treat obesity, now that it has been named a medical disease and not just a behavioral problem.
This 200-some page booklet lays out in black and white all sorts of information about obesity for doctors to use while treating their patients.
There is lots of supporting data, the reasons for obesity, the various treatments and prognosis for the patients. There is so much information that I found very helpful, too much to go into right now ... but I will post more later.
But there was something in the mist of all this information that really caught my eye ... that there is no evidence that emotional health or un-health causes obesity.
In fact, it said that what studies have found, is that obesity itself is likely the cause of emotional un-health, not the other way around.
It said that obesity alone can often cause depression as patients struggle to find a cure on their own, often while battling society ridicule ... which creates an unhealthy environment at the very least, and severe trauma at the worst.
Imagine if doctors told a patient just diagnosed with diabetes "Hey, before we get you on insulin, let's get you into therapy and figure out what might be bothering you to cause this. After you have spent a few months on the sofa digging into your past, then we will get you started with medical intervention."
What a breath of fresh air. Sure, therapy can help anyone dealing with depression and the trauma of an incurable disease. But, let's stop thinking that obesity is all in the patient's head and let's start treating the illness right away. Let's stop adding guilt and pressure to those struggling with daily regiment to keep themselves healthy.
This 200-some page booklet lays out in black and white all sorts of information about obesity for doctors to use while treating their patients.
There is lots of supporting data, the reasons for obesity, the various treatments and prognosis for the patients. There is so much information that I found very helpful, too much to go into right now ... but I will post more later.
But there was something in the mist of all this information that really caught my eye ... that there is no evidence that emotional health or un-health causes obesity.
In fact, it said that what studies have found, is that obesity itself is likely the cause of emotional un-health, not the other way around.
It said that obesity alone can often cause depression as patients struggle to find a cure on their own, often while battling society ridicule ... which creates an unhealthy environment at the very least, and severe trauma at the worst.
Imagine if doctors told a patient just diagnosed with diabetes "Hey, before we get you on insulin, let's get you into therapy and figure out what might be bothering you to cause this. After you have spent a few months on the sofa digging into your past, then we will get you started with medical intervention."
What a breath of fresh air. Sure, therapy can help anyone dealing with depression and the trauma of an incurable disease. But, let's stop thinking that obesity is all in the patient's head and let's start treating the illness right away. Let's stop adding guilt and pressure to those struggling with daily regiment to keep themselves healthy.
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