Reply to What Obesity Drugs and Antidepressants have in common

Forum Index » Diet, Nutrition & Weight Loss

Reply to "What Obesity Drugs and Antidepressants have in common"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Good column from health researcher, Indiana University health officer, and occasional New York Times essayist, Aaron Carroll:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/09/opinion/weight-loss-antidepressants-stigma.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytopinion

He notes his own personal experience with and initial reluctance to use antidepressants or weight loss drugs in part due to the unknowns surrounding their efficacy and in part due to the moral stigma around both mental health problems and weight. In the past, he'd been able to maintain his mental health through counseling and his weight through portion control and exercise. However, his control over both was imperfect and a lot of work.

[quote]Because I didn’t know the exact mechanism that caused my anxiety to be uncontrollable (and no one else did either), it seemed as if I must be cheating to use a drug that greatly helped my situation. It felt like a crutch or a shortcut. Especially because, even as a doctor, I can’t explain why the medication works for me or anyone else.

I’ve recently faced a similar scenario with new drugs for obesity. I’ve struggled with my weight for most of my life. I’ve always been overweight, and in the last few years, I’ve slipped into obesity, according to my body mass index. I exercise regularly and carry the weight well, but it bothers me immensely. It especially troubles me because I have a fair amount of self-discipline and eat quite healthfully.
...
Despite all the advances in science, we don’t know why some people, even when they try desperately, can’t seem to lose weight. Because of that, we often assume it must be a lack of willpower. I begged my father, who was also a physician, to lose weight, and he never could. In the back of my mind, I, like many others, blamed him for his failures and considered it a lack of resolve.

I blamed myself, too. I became so disheartened at my inability to affect my weight that it harmed my mental health. I felt like a failure, which led to self-hatred and anger.[/quote]

We would be well-served to stop regarding these things as morality plays where good people are mentally healthy and fit and only the lazy, undisciplined, and gluttonous are mentally or physically unfit. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics