Depression is commonly associated with both weight loss and weight gain. Extreme weight loss can harm your health and make you feel fatigued and unmotivated.
While depression primarily affects your mood and emotional mindset, it can also cause physical symptoms. You might notice aches and pains, a drop in your energy levels, difficulty sleeping, unusual stomach and digestion issues, or changes in your appetite.
Some people living with depression end up feeling hungrier than usual or eat more when they feel emotional. Comforting foods can soothe and temporarily ease sadness, emptiness, and other emotional distress, especially during the long dark winter months.
Depression can also cause a decrease in appetite that eventually leads to unintentional weight loss. Some people might consider this a positive side effect, but sudden or extreme weight loss can put your health at risk. It can also leave you with low energy, potentially making it more difficult to cope with other symptoms of depression.
Changes in appetite and weight often directly relate to other depression symptoms.
Mood changes
Depression often involves overwhelming mood changes, like:
- feeling sad without having a clear cause
- feeling hopeless
- persisting sense of numb disinterest
These changes can replace your typical emotions, occupying your mental energy. You’ll have little room to focus on your daily activities, like showering and dressing, tidying your house, or preparing and eating meals.
Other common signs include:
- loss of interest in activities you usually enjoy
- fatigue and decreased energy
- difficulty making decisions
These symptoms can also contribute to weight loss:
- You used to enjoy cooking and planning unique meals, but now you can’t find the energy to do more than eat a banana or have a handful of crackers.
- If you no longer enjoy eating, you may not think much about what you eat or when. Food may no longer be a priority, so you might miss meals without noticing.
- You feel like eating, but nothing sounds good. Your partner gives suggestions, but you can’t decide. Eventually, feeling irritable, you say you aren’t hungry and go to bed instead.
Other physical symptoms
Physical signs of depression can also play a part in weight loss.
Random, unexplained stomach pains or nausea might leave you avoiding all but the blandest of meals. You might even eat less to avoid triggering unpleasant symptoms.
Fatigue and low energy can also overtake feelings of hunger. You might feel so drained at the end of each day that you only want to rest and sleep in bed. You might eat simple things that don’t require preparation but still find it challenging to muster energy to finish even these smaller meals.
Some people with depression also experience psychomotor agitation, including fidgeting and pacing. These activities burn calories, and the combination of restless movement and decreased appetite makes it more likely you’ll lose weight.
Medication side effects
Certain depression medications may cause weight loss during the first several months of use,
The antidepressants fluoxetine (Prozac) and bupropion (Wellbutrin) might also
Weight loss associated with antidepressants could also happen as a result of reduced appetite or gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea, upset stomach, or diarrhea.
Changes in the brain
One
Researchers showed pictures of food and non-food items to three small groups of people:
- people with major depression who noticed an increase in their appetite
- people with major depression who noticed a decrease in their appetite
- people in the control group who did not have depression
Here’s what they found:
- Those with an increased appetite seemed to show the most activity in the regions of the brain associated with reward.
- People with appetite loss seemed to show less activity in the area of their brain associated with interoception, a sense that helps you feel and understand bodily sensations like hunger and thirst.
- The control group didn’t show any extreme activity or inactivity in the brain.
The study authors note that the links between these brain regions may further contribute to loss of appetite, disinterest in food, and weight loss.
When eating doesn’t feel pleasurable or rewarding, you might feel less inclined to eat, particularly when you don’t notice hunger like usual. If you’re eating less overall, it stands to reason you’ll eventually begin to lose weight.
Even when you live with depression, unexplained weight loss could have many other causes. Grief, stress, and anxiety can lead to appetite loss, as can many different medical conditions. Medications can also have weight loss as a side effect.”
Rapid or continued weight loss, especially over a short period of time, can have health consequences. Contact a healthcare professional if you:
- lose weight without changing your diet or usual exercise routine
- notice changes in bowel movements
- have unusual stomach pain or nausea
- notice changes in your ability to taste or smell
- feel unusual tiredness
- get sick more frequently
- have difficulty swallowing or chewing
- lose more than 5% of your body weight within 6 months to a year (if you weigh 175 pounds (lb), for example, that would be around 9 lb of weight loss)
Depression often occurs along with other conditions, including anxiety, eating disorders, or complicated grief. These conditions generally would need support from a mental health professional.
Therapy can help if you:
- are unable to cope with relentless, heavy grief after a loss
- feel preoccupied with thoughts of food, exercise, or your body weight
- have difficulty eating due to upsetting life changes or persistent worries
Help is out there
If you or someone you know is in crisis and considering suicide or self-harm, please seek support:
- Call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
- Text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
- Not in the United States? Find a helpline in your country with Befrienders Worldwide.
- Call 911 or your local emergency services number if you feel safe to do so.
If you’re calling on behalf of someone else, stay with them until help arrives. You may remove weapons or substances that can cause harm if you can do so safely.
If you are not in the same household, stay on the phone with them until help arrives.
You could also notice an opposite effect — feelings of depression after intentional weight loss.
Perhaps you’ve lost some weight, just not as much as you hoped. If your weight loss has plateaued, you may feel frustrated, hopeless, or discouraged. These feelings can negatively affect your mood and general outlook.
Messages from the media, advertisements, and loved ones often suggest thinness leads to happiness. A smaller size, then, might seem like the key to a new, improved you, so you might feel let down, even depressed, when the life changes you envisioned fail to become a reality.
Any personal difficulties, relationship problems, or workplace challenges won’t automatically disappear once you lose weight. These concerns, and anything else that needs attention, will probably stick around until you address them.
Some
When you skip meals or severely restrict calories — whether due to an eating disorder or another reason, like food insecurity or lack of access to nutritious food — your brain and body don’t get enough energy to function properly, prompting symptoms like energy loss, fatigue, and low mood.
Regaining weight can help boost your energy, which can make it easier to cope with other depression symptoms. The strategies below can offer a place to start.
Prioritize nutrition and whole-body wellness
Weight loss can offer certain health benefits in some cases, but it isn’t the case for everyone. It’s not an automatic solution to a happier or healthier life. Some people do not want to lose weight.
Accepting your body as it is, even when you don’t think it is ideal, can boost a more positive self-image and improve your mood and outlook.
Your identity and value are beyond your body size and shape. Instead of focusing on changes in your body or the absence of desired changes, consider foods and activities that help you feel good.
Practices like mindful eating and intuitive eating can also help you choose foods and eating habits that boost energy, allowing you to enjoy life more fully.
Focus on small changes
Depression can make it difficult to handle day-to-day responsibilities like cooking and food preparation, so you might find it difficult to adopt new eating habits after losing weight.
Instead of pushing yourself to prepare meals and snacks each day, try easier changes that help you get enough nourishment until you feel more capable of bigger steps.
Keeping your cabinets and refrigerator stocked with easy-to-grab nutritious snacks can be a helpful first step. Support from a friend or loved one can also make grocery shopping easier, and grocery delivery is a good option, too.
Easy foods to keep around
Look for mood-boosting foods that don’t require cooking or heating, such as:
- pretzels and whole grain crackers
- nuts and nut butters
- granola
- yogurt
- dried, fresh, or frozen fruit
- premade wraps or burritos
- presliced vegetables
- bottled whole juices, smoothies, or yogurt drinks
- protein bars
- presliced or individually wrapped cheeses
Even if you’d rather avoid prepackaged or individually wrapped items that contribute to excess waste, these conveniences can make it easier to take care of yourself. Making the best choice for your health and wellness is nothing to feel guilty about.
Finally, don’t get too caught up in making sure everything is healthy and nutritious. When you’re hungry, it’s still better to eat something over nothing, and there’s nothing wrong with occasionally treating yourself to something special.
Talk to your loved ones
Weight loss can lead to energy loss, which can make the task of preparing food seem even more exhausting. That’s when help from loved ones can make a big difference.
Asking for help can be tough, but keep in mind that they may already want to offer support if they know you’re having a difficult time. Asking for what you need makes it easier for them to know how to help.
Try explaining that depression affects your usual appetite and energy levels, making it hard to think about preparing or eating meals.
Then, you might ask for whatever support seems most helpful:
- helping with shopping or ordering food
- bringing a meal once or twice a week
- helping with meal prep and cooking
- setting reminders to eat regularly
- eating together a few nights a week
Try light exercise
People often exercise to lose weight, so you might avoid exercise when you’ve already lost weight and don’t want to lose more.
But exercise doesn’t just help with weight loss. Regular physical activity can boost energy levels, strengthen muscles and bones, and improve brain health.
Spending time in nature can help improve your mood. If you’re feeling up for it, consider a hike or a long walk through your favorite park.
It may be time to consider professional support when various strategies don’t help reduce depression symptoms or weight loss.
Getting treatment for depression can lead to relief in all of your symptoms, including physical ones like fatigue, decreased appetite, and weight gain or loss.
Helpful treatments generally include therapy or a combination of therapy and medication, but a trained mental health professional can help you find the approach that’s right for you.
When your depression medication seems a likely culprit for changes in appetite and weight, talk with your doctor or psychiatrist about making changes. It may take some trial and error to find a treatment that relieves symptoms without causing unwanted side effects, but your well-being is worth the time and effort.
A nutritionist or dietitian can also help you develop an eating plan that meets your unique needs.
Appetite and weight changes can affect mood and energy and can make managing depression symptoms a challenge.
If you continue to live with depression-related weight loss, a therapist can offer guidance and support in improving your mood, which may, in turn, help you regain your appetite.
Crystal Raypole has previously worked as a writer and editor for GoodTherapy. Her fields of interest include Asian languages and literature, Japanese translation, cooking, natural sciences, sex positivity, and mental health. In particular, she’s committed to helping decrease stigma around mental health issues.