Does depression cause weight gain?

Weight Loss and Depression. Although weight gain is commonly associated with depression, weight loss can also be a problem. “With severe depression, you might lose weight because you’ve lost your interest in food, which comes from losing in interest in pleasure,” Gordon says. Loss of pleasure is a hallmark of depression. read more

"We found that in a sample of young adults during a 15-year period, those who started out reporting high levels of depression gained weight at a faster rate than others in the study, but starting out overweight did not lead to changes in depression," said UAB Assistant Professor of Sociology Belinda Needham, PhD. read more

Some people with depression have elevated levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, which may help explain the weight gain, Dr. Shelton says. Or, he says, it could be that the sympathetic nervous system, which is more active in people with depression and which helps regulate metabolism, is to blame. read more