People with depression seek different ways of shaking those unpleasant feelings of sadness and despair. Eating is an easy way to boost your mood because comfort food activates the reward centers of the brain. This prompts you to eat more of the pleasurable food, even if you're not hungry.
Appetite and weight changes
Eating too much or too little can indicate depression. Some people turn to food for comfort, while others lose their appetite or eat less due to low mood. These changes in food intake can cause a person to gain or lose weight. They can also affect mood and energy levels.
Appetite and weight changes are common but variable diagnostic markers in major depressive disorder: some depressed individuals manifest increased appetite, while others lose their appetite. Many of the brain regions implicated in appetitive responses to food have also been implicated in depression.
People often turn to food when they're stressed out, lonely, sad, anxious, or bored. Little daily stresses can cause someone to seek comfort or distraction in food. But emotional eating can be linked to positive feelings too, like the romance of sharing dessert on Valentine's Day or the celebration of a holiday feast.
If you have depression, you may notice you're not as up to eating as you normally are. Or on the flip side, you might be craving more food than usual. Appetite changes like these are common among people with depression, according to Mayo Clinic.
The link between depression and changes in weight
Changes in appetite, diet, and eating patterns are common in depression. Depression can cause a loss of appetite, which may lead to weight loss. However, depression may instead cause an increase in appetite and therefore weight gain.
The medical term for extreme hunger is polyphagia. If you feel hungry all the time, see your doctor. Several things can cause hunger.
HUNGER is a natural physical drive to eat prompted by the body's need for food. APPETITE is a psychological desire for food.
People tend to seek high-calorie, high-fat foods during periods of stress, though in fact, when people are stressed, their bodies store more fat than when they are relaxed. While many factors contribute to the nation's weight challenges, the Stress in America™ survey suggests that stress influences our eating habits.
Our appetite and eating habits can also be impacted by depression. Some people may experience an increased appetite, while others have less of an appetite or may not be hungry at all. If you are noticing changes in your sleep habits, like the ones listed above, you may also notice changes in the way you eat.
Depression is a disorder of the brain. It is a serious mental illness that is more than just a feeling of being "down in the dumps" or "blue" for a few days. For more than 20 million people in the United States who have depression, the feelings persist and can interfere with everyday life.
Bulimia & Depression
Bulimia Nervosa is the eating disorder that co-occurs with Major Depressive Disorder the most, with 70.7% of individuals struggling with bulimia being diagnosed with depression at the same time [2].
They'll ask about whether you've had thoughts of suicide or self-harm. A GP may use a questionnaire to assess your symptoms. Try to be as open and honest as you can be with your answers. Describing your symptoms and how they're affecting you will help the GP determine whether you have depression and how severe it is.
The amygdala is the primary brain area regulating appetite with response to emotions. Indeed, the amygdala activates to food cues [124, 125], and this response is increased in childhood, adolescent, and adult obesity [126-129].
Being constantly hungry can be caused by lack of protein, fiber and fat in your diet. Not getting enough sleep or being stressed can also affect your appetite. Registered dietitian Julia Zumpano, RD, LD, talks about why you may constantly feel hungry and how certain foods can help you feel full for longer.
Binging as a result of junk food cravings is not down to willpower. The food industry has invested a lot of money to find the perfect combination of salt, fat, and sugar that maximises pleasure. This bliss point triggers reward pathways in our brain and encourages dopamine (pleasure hormone) signalling.
Polyphagia, also called hyperphagia, is the medical term for a feeling of extreme, insatiable hunger. It's a symptom of certain health conditions. Eating typically doesn't make polyphagia go away, except in the case of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
Our brain can respond to many more cues to eat than just hunger. We can find ourselves eating in response to emotions, whether that is happy, sad, stressed or excited. Boredom and fatigue are other common triggers and eating is also encouraged by how the food look and smells when presented on the plate.