Overeating can lead to all sorts of health problems for loved ones with mental illness
Mental awareness and food - struggling with disordered eating
If you've been caring for a loved one with mental illness, you will know all about binge eating and overeating and how difficult it is to control it.
Most overeating is blamed on medication and I think it's well known for those taking clozapine, for instance. We know, for instance, that serotonin deficiency has been found to lead to carbohydrate cravings and weight gain. Those who lack serotonin seem to be self-medicating with food.
Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for several chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
But something has to be done because a person with a mental illness can't willy-nilly continue overeating without bringing on serious health problems.
We also all know about the importance of weight loss by now but I think the thing that is missing is teaching loved ones, not about now to diet but how to learn to diet. What I mean by this is the loved one needs to teach themselves about portion sizes, frequency of meals and healthy and unhealthy foods.
Apart from education, how do you reduce weight? You can try as hard as you want but sometimes the loved one continues with their surreptitious eating. You will notice if it's happening by the amount of food that is disappearing from your fridge and groceries cupboard.
Sometimes the only course of action, sadly, is to put a lock on the fridge and lock the grocery cupboard. But there will still be ways around this because when your loved one meets with friends outside of the home, they will eat as much as they like.
The solution might sound simple, eat healthily and get as much exercise as possible, but someone with a mental illness will not take that advice easily. This means that the caregiver will need to take an active role in managing the loved ones diet and try to convince the loved one to change their eating habits.
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