Mental disorders like depression have a significant impact on your body. They can affect your eating habits leading to a severe eating disorder. Most of the time, people diagnosed with eating disorders tend to have depression as well. Some common eating disorders related to depression include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.
What is Depression?
Depression is a mental disorder that affects your thinking and feelings. It is the most common psychological problem that has the following symptoms:
- Anxiety
- Intense grief or sadness
- Feelings of guilt or worthlessness
- Difficulty in sleeping
- Anger
- Overeating or undereating
- Facing problems while concentrating
A clinically depressed person has no interest in one’s surroundings. They feel isolated and are not comfortable with family as well. Depressive patients are also likely to develop fits, and they actually become aggressive in some cases. These symptoms of depression are dangerous because they can lead to suicide. It is, therefore, crucial to get professional help.
What is an Eating Disorder?
An eating disorder is an illness that refers to an imbalance in people’s diet. There can be several reasons for such disturbances, including hunger, health, hereditary, and genetics. Eating disorder is usually common in those who are diet conscious and stop eating all the essential food items because they consider it a source of fat. People with more or less weight than their required body mass index are more susceptible to eating disorders.
Eating disorders are also common in people who have mental illnesses like depression or anxiety. Such patients most often do not feel like eating. A typical eating disorder linked to depression is anorexia nervosa, in which patient feels that they are obese and start dieting, leading to malnutrition. Other types of eating disorders are also harmful to the physical and mental health of the patient. You should visit a psychiatrist to effectively treat eating disorders because they can be fatal.
How are Depression & Eating Disorders Related?
An eating disorder is directly related to depression as it strongly relates to a person’s mentality. People who face mental disorders, typically depression, will experience hunger issues. It is commonly observed that people with depression would stop eating or drinking when they are down and dull. As a result, their bodies don’t get sufficient energy to perform the essential functions. Usually, girls suffering from depression also have anorexia nervosa because they want to fit into society’s perception of beauty and smartness. As per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the chances of suicide are higher among people with anorexia and depression.
Conclusion
The relation between depression and eating disorders is very significant. You can rule out the risk of eating problems in a clinically depressed patient and vice versa. It is necessary to get clinical treatment for depression and problematic eating problems. Only an experienced psychiatrist can help you in this regard. You can visit Euromed Clinic Center to consult with a board-certified psychiatrist who will try their best to bring you back to life. Please fill in the form online or call us to book your appointment.