Mental Health Care as a Weight Management Tool: A Comprehensive, Non-Judgmental Approach

Mental Health Care as a Weight Management Tool: A Comprehensive, Non-Judgmental Approach

Weight fluctuates throughout one’s life for many reasons, and there is no single right weight for everyone. Media messages about the value of thinness coupled with bias against larger bodies can cause intense suffering for people whose bodies don’t meet society’s expectations.

Some individuals feel that excess weight makes it more difficult to climb stairs, play with their children, or perform routine tasks without difficulty. Additional weight may be a risk factor for heart disease and other chronic diseases. 

To achieve sustainable results, it is important to take a comprehensive, non-judgmental approach to weight management, while looking at the way mental health struggles may be contributing to the difficulty in managing one’s weight. Mental health support is very important to understand the root cause of weight struggles, learn alternate coping mechanisms, manage emotions and triggers, along with practice skills to manage impulses.

Obesity as a Disease

Discussions of obesity continue to blame individuals for their weight. Society’s prejudice against those in a larger body includes stereotypes that all overweight individuals are unhappy. Other issues include discrimination when it comes to job opportunities, the wide availability of plus-size clothing, and accommodations for larger-bodied individuals in airplanes. Moreover, the notion that people with weight issues need to exercise more self-control just isn’t supported by research. The medical community is moving toward defining obesity as a disease. Dieting rarely works. According to the National Institutes of Health.

When an individual loses weight through extreme or fad diets, weight is regained, with one-third to two-thirds of the weight lost being regained within one year, and almost all is regained within five years. At least one-third of dieters regain more weight than they lost, and prospective studies indicate that dieting during childhood and adolescence predicts future weight gain and obesity. It is also possible that weight cycling increases the risks for cardiometabolic diseases.

As an adjunct to weight management and addressing mental health and nutrition, there has been a recent spotlight on a semaglutides, or GLP-1 agonists. Semaglutides work by mimicking the action of GLP-1, a naturally occurring hormone that helps to regulate blood glucose levels. Binding to and activating the GLP-1 receptor stimulates insulin secretion and lowers glucagon secretion when blood glucose levels are high. It also causes a slowing down in how fast the stomach empties, increasing feelings of fullness, thus reducing appetite followed by weight loss. Most semaglutides are used in people with type 2 diabetes and can also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in this population.

Semaglutides work best when used in combination with a healthy diet and exercise. The largest clinical trial showed that adults taking semaglutide lost an average of almost 15 percent of their initial body weight over 16 months— about 12 percent more than those who didn’t take the medication.

As a best practice, any weight loss regimen should be undertaken in conjunction with your primary care physician. You do not have to attain a certain weight to be worthy of good treatment. Weight loss is about caring for yourself.

A Positive Approach to Weight Management

For many individuals, weight loss requires medical and mental health support, and a focus on changes a person can sustain for the rest of their life. Components of this comprehensive approach include:

• Mental health. It is often difficult to make lasting changes in lifestyle if you are depressed, anxious, or do not feel good about yourself.
• Sustainable habits. Losing weight requires you to change your habits. Doing so can be challenging. A successful approach typically includes making small changes that you can build upon over time.
• Stress management. Stress changes how your body stores fat and metabolizes food. Getting your stress under control addresses the disease of obesity and empowers you to make healthier choices over the long haul.
• Self-confidence. Building body confidence can raise your self-esteem. Seasoned professionals can help with this process.
• Meaningful nutrition advice. Weight loss doesn’t have to mean being hungry or giving up everything you love. All foods can fit – there are no good or bad foods.
• Lifestyle changes. A comprehensive approach to weight management includes incorporating meaningful changes into your life. Fitness advice considers your lifestyle and preferences to help you explore joyful movements that will motivate you to continue for the long haul.

In combination, these critical components offer a sustainable, lifelong approach to overall well-being.