“Get me out of this body!”

Ok so most people have small gripes with their bodies, “my hair’s too flat”, “my nose is too wide”, “I really hate my toes”, you know the sort of thing. But what happens when those small gripes aren’t so small? What happens when they’re not even average, what happens when they are so huge they begin to take over your whole life?!

“All I could do was think about my fat, ugly face! I became so paranoid that everyone was looking and laughing I stopped going out altogether”.

Depression linked to physical appearance is more common than most people think. There is a lot of evidence to suggest people only become unhappy with their appearance after they have been diagnosed with depression because they have “let themselves go” as they say. However, many of those suffering do so due to reasons of physical appearance alone.

Sadly sufferers often believe they are not justified in thinking they are afflicted with the disease, they feel guilty because they may not have been through true hardship or turmoil in other areas of their lives. Obviously this is a grave misconception and can put a greater strain on the condition.

“I felt so angry at myself. I knew there were people out there who had such worse things going on in their lives, my weight problem seemed stupid! But the constant crying and misery continued no matter what I tried convincing myself”

Living in a body that today’s society would probably call “abnormal” or “unhealthy” can put a great strain on a person’s mental health. All the funny looks, whispers and derogatory comments can build up and up, without sometimes the victim ever realising, until one day they hit all at once and a state of depression begins to set in.

“I always had large breasts but after having children they became so big I couldn’t deal with the attention they brought any more. I just wanted to crawl into a dark hole and forget about my body!”

Studies have shown that the risk of depression over a persons lifetime is 20%, however if the person were obese then the risk rises to 28%. Hardly surprising really, considering eating disorders and society’s craving for the “perfect” body is now such a public affair.

Symptoms of depression

There are many symptoms of depression that the sufferer and friends and family can easily pick up on. Obviously not everyone suffers with all of the listed symptoms so it’s always best to consult your doctor however you feel.

Almost constant feeling of:
• Misery, sadness
• Exhaustion
• Small tasks becoming completely impossible
• Life is passing you by
• Life isn’t worth living
• Being a burden to others
• Having no confidence in yourself or others
• Life being unfair
• Irritable and angry

Other symptoms to look out for:
• Difficulty sleeping at night, waking very early, having long lapses of sleep and/ or disturbing dreams
• Feeling scared, uncomfortable in social situations and of being alone
• Finding it very difficult to think rationally
• Physical aches and pains that don’t appear to have been caused by particular events or accidents.
• The want and/ or need to eat compulsively or to stop eating all together.

This last point is obviously integral to those depressed due to a weight problem. It can cause the person to either, put on more weight and hinder the problem further or dramatically loose weight if they stop eating altogether. This evidently will become a great risk to the person’s health, especially if this develops into an eating disorder. See our page on Eating Disorders.

What should I do if I think I am depressed?

First of all don’t worry any further. Being diagnosed with depression is not the end, it’s the beginning.

Go and see your G.P, explain all the symptoms you have and why you think you may be depressed, sometimes just talking this through helps a great deal.

If you feel you are not up to seeing your G.P straight away, confide in a close friend or family member. This can be done is one foul swoop or over a short period of time, having someone you trust is incredibly important.

If you can’t bring yourself to speak to anyone face-to-face there are many online help groups, websites and forums dedicated to people seeking refuge and advice on depression, one being our own 100% People Forum.

“I found solitude from an internet forum; I felt I could discuss my feelings openly because I didn’t have to say the words out loud. Eventually a fellow member persuaded me to get medical help.”

Finally you must always remember you are not alone, people can beat depression, and they have!

We have 100% faith in you!

Useful Links

www.dailystrength.org - DailyStrength.org is the largest, most comprehensive health network of people sharing their advice, treatment experiences, and support.

www.depressionalliance.org - Depression Alliance is the leading UK charity for people affected by depression. They work to relieve and to prevent this treatable condition by providing information and support services.

www.depressionalternatives.co.uk - The Depression Support Group Association (DSGA) has been successfully helping people, whose lives have been distorted by depression, insecurity, loneliness, social phobia, low self-esteem and unsatisfying relationships.

**Disclaimer** - We here at 100% People are not health care professionals. We have researched issues such as the one featured in the above article in detail to bring you the best of the information available to us at the time of print. We can not be held responsible for the health of our readers and would always urge someone to contact their G.P or a qualified specialist before making any change to their diet or lifestyle.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 27th, 2007 at 2:30 pm and is filed under Depression, Help & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.