Many obese people suffer from discrimination, have limited relationships, lose confidence in themselves, and even have suicidal thoughts.
Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital has just issued a warning about the negative psychological effects on obese people. The patient the hospital recently admitted is Ms. NTMT (35 years old, Ho Chi Minh City), 1m56 tall, weighing nearly 70kg. Her obesity makes her very self-conscious, affecting her work and love life.
For the past 3 months, Ms. T. has often been anxious, stressed, had uncontrolled eating, insomnia, and irritability. Too tired, Ms. T. went to see a psychologist and learned that she had been suffering from prolonged stress due to the effects of obesity. In addition, Ms. T. also had diabetes and dyslipidemia.
At Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Ms. T. also had to receive treatment from the departments of Endocrinology, Nutrition, Rehabilitation and Psychology.
Obese people often have low self-esteem, easily affected in life and emotions.
According to Master, Doctor Nguyen Minh Man, Head of the Clinical Psychology Unit, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, many obese patients are eager to find ways to lose weight quickly. However, they are afraid to discuss their weight problems with their doctors.
Because of impatience, many people choose inappropriate and ineffective weight loss methods, which affect their psychology even more severely.
According to Dr. Nguyen Minh Man, psychological factors can be the cause of obesity. Specifically, stress has a negative impact on cognition, changing behavior and habits in a negative way. The most obvious manifestation is unhealthy eating, living and exercising.
Not only that, stress can also cause the body's biological functions to become unbalanced, leading to metabolic disorders that cause obesity. When stress reaches a more serious level, the patient will fall into depression.
Conversely, obesity contributes to worsening stress or depression.
Notably, many obese people also have to endure discrimination from those around them. Their quality of life is affected, their relationships are narrowed, they lose confidence in themselves, and they even have suicidal thoughts.
Psychological therapy and support are needed throughout the obesity treatment process.
According to Master, Doctor Nguyen Minh Man, studies have shown that patients can lose 5% -10% of their initial body weight within 6 months when treated with a physical exercise program, dietary changes and especially behavioral and lifestyle change strategies.
Psychologists will help patients successfully intervene to change their behavior and improve their ability to self-regulate. However, therapy and psychological support must be provided throughout the obesity treatment process to achieve the best results.
According to Vietnamnet