The Correlation Between Antidepressants And Weight Gain
A fascinating article in the Boston Globe, called Fattened by Pills, discusses the often-unspoken correlation between taking antidepressants and gaining weight:
Many [psychiatric drugs], which are used to treat emotional problems including depression and anxiety, cause weight gain — often of the rapid and massive sort — as one of their “side effects,” that brilliant marketing term for what are simply negative effects of a drug. It is striking that the weight of many Americans has ballooned just as the prescribing of psychiatric drugs has surged.
And from the “holy shit” file:
Another disturbing link could be on the way. The fifth edition of the major psychiatric diagnostic manual, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), is expected to be released in 2013. One proposal under consideration: listing obesity as a mental illness. That would be a mistake, since obesity can be caused by metabolic and other physical problems that are often undiagnosed. And because obesity can also result from psychiatric drugs, calling it a mental illness would create a vicious cycle: Someone is troubled, put them on drugs, they become obese, therefore diagnose them as mentally ill, give them more drugs.
This post at Big Fat Delicious discusses the article at greater length.
What do you want to bet that studies have never been done to determine how many fat people are taking those drugs? What do you want to bet that the reason those studies have never been done is because pharmaceutical companies don’t want anyone to know how many people went from average-size to “overweight” or “overweight” to “obese” because of those psychiatric drugs? After all, if those numbers were known, pharma just might have to figure out how to come up with drugs without those nasty “side effects” of weight gain (not to mention that they then couldn’t push their weight loss drugs, with all their nasty “side effects”, on fat people).
The whole post is worth reading. Pretty scary, actually.
Posted by mo pie
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Remember, correlation does not equal causation.
In 2004 I was put on anti-depressants. Yes, I was depressed and had lost weight because I was eating very little. Thing was, I had a good reason to be depressed: I had undergone some major surgery in 2003, things went terribly wrong and I ended up much worse off after the surgery than before. Normal recovery issues made it unclear at first that I was not going to get better, but I realized that something had gone terribly wrong before the doctors and the physiotherapists (I do not have a soft spot in my heart for physiotherapists after seeing how willfully blind they can be) and I went into a pretty nasty depression.
As soon as my surgeon recognized the problem, apologized (yes, amazing–but I live in much less litigious Canada) and set a date for revision surgery, my mood lifted immediately. The problem was, my GP didn’t want to take me off the anti-depressants until after the revision surgery and then it took quite a number of weeks to wean me off something I hadn’t needed in the first place. And boy, did I gain weight. I’m a very small person and my already battered joints could ill afford the weight that I put on. I’m still struggling with it, almost six years after my second surgery.
I have a friend who is inconsistent with her much-needed medication for manic depression because it makes her gain weight, and man, are there severe consequences. It’s amazing to me that she would rather live in complete emotional hell than gain weight — even though in her case, the gain is pretty dramatic.
Obesity as a mental illness? Surely they cannot be serious. But again, this is the same authority that declared homosexuality a mental illness at one time.
When I was a teenager I was forcibly medicated with multiple anti-psychotics and anti-depressants. I went through a rollercoaster of weight changes and at one point, I gained up to one hundred and twenty pounds. Most other people I know in the mental health system face similar challenges. Nowadays, every time I make a med change I either gain or lose a bit, but things have been comparatively stable to due having doctors who aren’t quite as reckless with their prescription pads. While I do rely on psych meds to stay alive, I wish more publicity would be given to the fact that they can be very dangerous [for much more than just causing weight gain, of course].
My best friend was put on Seroquel about 3 years ago and it kicked her PCOS into high gear. She’s been off it for nearly 2 years and is still recovering. So that’s another factor some women on antidepressants and other meds have to worry about.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but several thoughts:
1. I am opposed to obesity being classified as a mental illness; however, I believe that Binge Eating Disorder should be because I’d see that as the mental illness that could cause obesity in and of itself.
2. One of the diagnostic criteria for a mental illness is (as far as I can remember always, otherwise in most of them) that the symptoms are not better accounted for by a general medical condition. So for example, hypoactive thyroid can cause depressive symptoms, but if those symptoms go away with successful treatment of the hypoactive thyroid the person should not be given the mental illness diagnosis. The APA would not be advocating blindly labeling every fat person as mentally ill.
3. The author overlooks the fact that for many people who are on psychiatric meds, non-drug treatments such as “exercise, meditation, changes in vitamin/mineral intake, participating in the arts, volunteer work, and developing or maintaining close friendships” may not be enough and she seems to neglect that. Yes, I agree that medications are often overprescribed, but they can also be lifesaving. It says in her credentials that she’s a clinical psychologist, and there is sometimes a rivalry between psychologists (who can’t prescribe drugs) and psychiatrists (who can). Based on the title of her book, I get the impression that she does have some resentment towards psychiatrists and I think that’s biasing her article somewhat against medication.
4. I honestly believe that antidepressants saved my life. That said, I’ve also had the experience of “rapid and massive” weight gain as a side effect. When I had an appointment at a regular medical doctor, he lectured me because I’d gained weight. I had just gone through an updated list of my prescriptions with him, which included several antidepressant/anti anxiety meds known to cause weight gain. I told him that I’d been very anxious recently and he dismissed that saying “everyone has anxiety.”
Given my experiences as a person in therapy, a fat medical patient, and a licensed social worker who’s done therapy, I think the biggest focus in the medical community should not be on psychiatrists considering the weight gain effects of psych medications but on OTHER doctors being aware of the weight gain effects of those medications. If I have emotional consequences as a result of gaining weight from medications, I can discuss that with my psychiatrist and we can come up with a solution together. Some of my other doctors are ill-informed and/or just completely insensitive to the issue and that’s where there’s far more potential for emotional damage.
To echo M, binge eating disorder should be classified as a mental illness in the same vein as bulimia and anorexia (and BED is currently up for considering in the next DSM revision). Obesity however, is nothing more than a medical ADJECTIVE, used to describe higher-than-“average” levels of body fat. Classifying obesity as a mental illness is no more ludicrous than classifying tallness or shortness as a mental illness, as all can be influenced by conditions both organic and environmental.
I had long heard about weight gain as a side effect of psychiatric drugs and it proved to be one of the biggest obstacles in me going on an antidepressant. I was prescribed Zoloft by one doctor and when I raised concerns about weight gain I had read on online messageboards by others who had taken Zoloft, was told that it was all in their head and that the meds didn’t influence weight. Nonetheless, I declined. I was finally prescribed Wellbutrin by a psychiatrist friend of mine and have stayed on it because A) it works for me; and B) it doesn’t carry high levels of weight gain as a side effect.
I get a little confused when people refer to this supposed machine called “big pharma”. So, is there only one pharmaceutical company then instead of numerous competing companies? Did I miss something?
It’s kind of like referring to “the man” aka “government”. Targeting institutions in such a way seems illogical, especially if we want change to occur. You need to treat each company as an individual, just as you treat each politician or party as individuals. Otherwise nothing is going to get done.
I don’t understand how obesity can be classified as a mental illness. Like, that doesn’t even make sense on a basic level.
Interesting that the article talks about SSRIs causing weight gain but not depression itself. One of the SYMPTOMS of depression is “unexplained weight gain or loss”.
I have gained weight on both SSRI’s I’ve taken, and all three times I’ve been on the birth control pill. I absolutely refuse to go back on estrogen-based birth control, have for years, and yet doctors continued to push it on me every time I went in. I kept switching doctors til I found one that would shut up about the stupid Pill, which, by the way, caused both weight gain and *depression*. So I’d go on an SSRI for the depression and….gain weight. Some more. I’m convinced that going on the Pill at 16 has permanently screwed my metabolism.
I’d like to know if the increase in women using birth control pills has contributed to the (alleged) increase in weight, nation-wide. I’d like to see the companies selling the Pill be more straightforward about the potential side effects of estrogen (depression, weight gain…oh wait, did I mention the death of my libido while on the Pill?) Again, it’s a situation where the people selling the pills want to sweep it under the carpet. REAL science – instead of wild speculation about the boring, depressed fatties of the world – would be so handy, wouldn’t it?
As for obesity as a psychiatric disorder? FFS. If you can redefine “obese” every five years using yet another flawed metric, how in the hell can an allegedly science-based DSM possibly take this under consideration? Talk about *crazy*.
Jezebella, I had exactly the same reaction on birth control pills, my weight ballooned out of control and I was crying all the time, I still think it was a miracle my fiance still married me because I was f-n CRAZY. I tell doctors that I gained a lot of weight on the pill and don’t want to go back on it, they tell me I’m crazy, that the pill doesn’t cause weight gain, but for whatever reason, when I was on the pill, I went from a socialable, fun loving person to a depressed, unmotivated, introvert.
I have schizophrenia and would probably not be alive today were it not for atypical antipsychotic medications. I’ve gained around 60lbs over the past year from a combination of Zyprexa and Seroquel. I also knew that would probably happen when I started my treatment. These medications can also screw with your cholesterol and blood sugar. But the risk to benefit ratio for me was fine. It was riskier to not take the medication than to take it. I can live with that.
Medication is only part of my treatment. I have to meet with my therapist once a week to help me work on issues that medication can’t handle. Such as the negative symptoms that most medication really sucks at treating.
It upsets me when people (such as the author of the BG article) suggest things like “exercise, meditation, changes in vitamin/mineral intake, participating in the arts, volunteer work, and developing or maintaining close friendships” as being some miraculous cure all. As if a person like me hadn’t already tried everything. As if people are just willy-nilly taking medication as the easy-way-out. It’s crazy-making.
Don’t even get me started on people who push religion or even exorcism on me. My mother’s pastor straight-out told both of us that schizophrenia doesn’t exist and that I was just possessed by a demon. Exorcism was the cure.
No thanks. I’ll stick to my medication and therapy. They’re working just fine.
Oh yeah, SSRI’s are not good for the waistline. In 90 days gained almost 30 pounds while on Paxil CR. And I was already 30 pounds overweight from being depressed and not wanting to do anything when I started taking it. The one thing I can say about my SSRI experience was the eye-opener on those with drug addictions trying to get off of them. When I went off Paxil CR…. WOW… words cannot describe the hell I went through.
Along with what everyone else is saying, it also makes me think of hearing in the past how pharmaceutical drugs were in our drinking water, with a big emphasis on psychiatric medication and birth control. This was also linked with (of course not causation) the rate of infertility the country has, and increase in man boobs (as a quick summation lol, because of the estrogen I think)
I wooonndderrr if the issue of drugs in our drinking water can be related to what this post talks about psychotic medication and weight gain. Maybe the drugs in our water is causing people to collect it into their bodies and gain weight. Just a thought.
After a long period of trying to deal with recurrent, severe depression without drugs, I was put on Avanza in the middle of last year. I have gained 2-5kg (roughly 1-100 pounds). I was warned of the possibility of weight gain in advance, but told I wouldn’t have to worry about it because I’m a vegan. Ha!
Brittney: the “pill residue in drinking water” idea is claptrap. The Vatican pushes it as one reason why The Pill is eeeevil! http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/706257/Contraceptive-pill-pollutes-environment-Vatican
I tried about 5 anti-depressants before I found the one that works. And all of those 5 made me gain weight on top of my already fat body. I knew I had found the right one when I a) felt like me again and b) wasn’t affected with weight gain by it.
My advice to all when it comes to anti-depressants is that it’s really worthwhile working through the crappy ones until you find the one that is right for you. Each of us react to them differently, so it takes a bit of dialing (which is pretty bloody yuck) in to get the one that works, but when it does… it’s sooooo worth it.
Since I went on Zoloft I’ve put on 20 pounds that won’t go away. This is just like the whole “birth control doesn’t make you gain weight” crap. Drug companies need to ‘fess up about side effects. I mean, come on, in all those heinous drug ads, they go on and on about the possibility of dry mouth, constipation, growing a second head and, oh yeah, DEATH, but they can’t mention weight gain?!?!?!
And I agree with Kath; it’s definitely worth finding the one that’s right for you.
Ya… Lithium… 2 weeks; 2 dress sizes.
i had a doctor (past tense) who really wanted me to be on antidepressants. she pushed them HEAVILY. problem was, the depression i was feeling was within normal limits…i was having a difficult divorce (made difficult by the courts, not my ex, a year later they STILL dont have the custody stuff finished), my son doesnt live with me, and i’m no longer near my adult daughter. reasonable that i’m blue over that.
then i was diagnosed with diabetes. and bitched at for gaining weight…and then was told ‘oh yeah, this med can cause weight gain’. now i have a wonderful endocrinologist, who looks up side effects before perscribing them…and i’ve gained 40 pounds total. nearly 30 of those pounds were in a 6 week period.
so he starts talking lap band surgery. um, NO. HELL no. dont bring it up again, i’m not doing it no.
yay for modern medicine. (cause i’m on a lot of it. and i’m allergic to the newer forms of insulin. yay.)
I totally know what medication for depression can do…..especially when a person runs out. It made my mom gain weight and it made her sleepy when it was mixed with her other medicine that the doctor prescribed. Sometimes i think doctors should be more careful what they prescribe. My mom just got an anti inflammatory for her foot but it says on the warning paper not to mix it with anti depressants or blood thinners, which she both takes. But yeah, according to psychologists I should get put on an anti anxiety pill. yeah i know the anxiety is triggering my clausterphobia, which made me drop out of college early and almost drop out of high school but i deal with it. And those moments when you get like really pent up with emotions, mine is usually anger since i like never get mad, everyone gets those right? Now I’m rambling….. my bad!!! ^_^
I actually lost weight when I was put on antidepressants. O.o
I have to say I’m with Madison on this, I get really upset when people try to say that you can always get better just by changing your lifestyle; for every doctor that is over-prescribing anti-depressants or other drugs, there’s another doctor telling you “Just work out and get some sunshine and you’ll be all better.” I get that no one is perfect, even a doctor, but I wish there was more effort on everyone’s part to emphasize that those things *can* help, but you shouldn’t get the idea that they absolutely will. It causes so many problems, from people who start to work out obsessively to try and feel good, or people who flat out refuse drugs that could really help them because they think they don’t need them- because someone gave them the hope that if they just do everything else right they’ll get better.
It’s the first time I am making a comment on this blog and I want to say that it is really good and have been helping me a lot. So congrats for what you’re doing!! (I’m portuguese, so sorry for some mistakes in my english)
About the post:
I’m a psychologist and like other people said before ” I get really upset when people try to say that you can always get better just by changing your lifestyle”, etc, etc. That is not true, mental illness usually have an organic cause, that’s why you will need medication. And therapy it’s very important too, the meds act like a support for therapy. About the medication, i think it really depends on your doctor. I suffer from general anxiety and I have been taking anti-depressants for some years.
My psychiatrist always keeps in mind that I’m fat when he perscribe my meds. He says that if I already have a problem (mental illnes) I shouldn’t have to concern with another, like gaining weight. I know, he’s great! I never gained weight with my meds. For example, a very popular anti-depressant, Prozac, even makes some people to loose weigth. Because it was a small dose, when I was taking it I didn’t loose weight, but I didn’t gain neither.
Right now I’m taking other meds, paroxetin and xanax and I didn’t gain any weight.
So I really thinks it depends on your doctor in choosing the right meds for you. Not all meds are bad for you and they can help you a lot.
But no, I don’t think that obesity can be a mental illness. I think, sometimes, it can partially cause some others, but not for itself alone.
I have taken antidepressants (most of the time) for about nine years now, which I credit for my sanity and general ability to keep it together. I had a major depressive episode when I was 18 and went on Paxil. When the Paxil kicked in, it was like and nigh and day between my depressed self and better self. I still take Paxil because of major anxiety problems. I tried going off of it for a while, to some serious problems. I also have gained a lot of weight over the years, to the tune of about a hundred pounds. I also take anti-convulsant medications, as I was diagnosed with a seizure disorder a few years ago. I know also contributes to my weight gain. However, I’d rather be fat and otherwise healthy than be an anxious, seizing wreck.
It’s funny that I ran across this today because yesterday I had the worst experience ever with a doctor. I had to switch general physicians because of insurance reasons and met with this doctor for the first time to get a referral. That’s all I needed. I had my vitals taken and noticed that I gained about 15 pounds, to my dismay I must admit. The FIRST thing this new doctor said to me was that I weighed too much and should have gastric bypass surgery and that my antidepressants could not account for my “excess weight.” I’m getting a new doctor, one that won’t make such horrible snap judgments.
hahaha. So true. I gained a hundred twenty pounds (from 160 to 280) over the five years I took antidepressants (Paxil, Zoloft, Lexapro in about equal turns). Last spring, I finally stopped taking them. Without changing my eating or exercise, I haven’t gained any weight in the year since.