Obesity, Stigma, & Mental Health

ORDER

1. What is obesity?

2. Psychosocial impact of obesity

3. Physiology

4. Summary

Obesity, although previously labeled as a condition stemming primarily from poor lifestyle habits, has been more recently attributed to uncontrollable factors such as genetics, monetary wealth, and socioeconomic status. It is usually a condition inevitable—yet, society deems obese individuals as those characterized with poor lifestyles and faulty choices. These stereotyping fuels further isolation and ostracism of obese individuals, increasing risk of ailing self-esteem and consequently, mental illness.

Moores, Danielle. “Obesity: Causes, Complications, and Diagnosis.” Healthline, 2018, www.healthline.com/health/obesity.National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. “Overweight & Obesity Statistics .” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute of Health, 13 Dec. 2018, www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/overweight-obesity.Rosen, Howard. “Is Obesity A Disease or A Behavior Abnormality? Did the AMA Get It Right?.” Missouri medicine vol. 111,2 (2014): 104-108

Throughout history, disease stigma, ranging from cholera to syphilis and HIV/AIDS occurred when groups were blamed for their illnesses, as being immoral, unclean, or lazy. Disease stigma has also impaired the efforts to prevent the progression of these diseases. Obesity/weight stigma is defined as the negative attitudes, behaviors, and actions performed against overweight individuals simply because of their physicality and weight appearance. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity stigma, more often than not, leads to the marginalization and exclusion of overweight individuals. 

As humans, a vast majority of individuals crave social belonging. Many foster a strong urgency or desire to fit in with society, “heed” to social standards and trends—pivotal in shaping how an individual is accustomed to normality in large communities. With the distinct discrimination against obese individuals, oppression turns into isolation–and the isolation derived from stereotypical judgment significantly inhibits obese individuals' equal social interaction with others in common social constructs. 

Having mentioned this infringement of social belonging; obstructive sleep apnea, decreased sleep, panic disorder, bipolar disorder, alongside depression and its sub-groups of mental illness all fall under consequential mental detriments attributed to obesity.  It has been suggested that obesity leads to depression and depression leads to obesity in a bidirectional causality. Specifically, the comorbidity of depression & obesity, both conditions of significant prevalence, poses great threat upon global health with their high morbidity mortality rates. The pervasive stigma faced by obese individuals can inflict deep psychological wounds, notably raising alarming self-esteem and body image concerns. 

Based on the NIH, obesity, a global health condition sparking crises in more ways than one, is in many ways economically inhibitory across samples of heterogeneous contexts globally. Irrespective of economic or geographical context, as seen in the data provided, obesity’s substantial impact socioeconomically will continue to increase as present-day trends carry on.

Blasco, Beatriz Villagrasa et al. “Obesity and Depression: Its Prevalence and Influence as a Prognostic Factor: A Systematic Review.” Psychiatry investigation vol. 17,8 (2020): 715-724. doi:10.30773/pi.2020.0099 

Physiologically, obesity is a medical condition characterized by the accumulation of excess body fat, inhibiting normal body function and posing greater risk for other diseases, such as heart attack, diabetes, and so on. Ongoing research is attempting to understand modes of intervention to aid in inhibiting expedited weight gain rates in obese individuals.

This condition, as a driving force of weight gain and precursor to other health risks, such as diabetes and heart attack, alongside psychosocial detriments, raises concerns about wellbeing in our global community. It sparks the need for advocacy to increase awareness of the psychosocial and socioeconomic impacts of obesity, addressing the systemic roots from which obesity has spiked thus forth. In ongoing research, scientists hope to learn more about possible implementation of clinical treatments using the role of osteocytic connexin 43 hemichannels in metabolic health, through its’ regulation of adipose tissue formation, as a target for combating obesity & thus, the bidirectional causality of the comorbid conditions—depression/mental illness & obesity.