Accepting Weight Gain in Bipolar Disorder
People with bipolar disorder, regardless of medication, are, on average, heavier than the average person. This is likely due to sedentary lifestyles and poor dietary choices due, in part, to reduced income. I suspect it’s also because of untreated and undertreated people exhibiting major depression and never getting off the couch (something I know a lot about).
But then, of course, there are the side effects from medication and one of the big ones that effects people drastically is weight gain. Antipsychotics, in particular, can make a person put on a lot of weight and fast. (Tip: the antipsychotic that was newly approved in bipolar disorder, lurasidone, has been shown to be weight-neutral.)
And while many people work very hard to try to lose it, the fact of the matter is, most can’t. Losing weight is something that is tough in the average population let alone in a medicated one. So sometimes, acceptance is the only answer.
Battling Weight Gain
Now, don’t get me wrong, if you’re determined to battle your weight then I’d recommend seeing your doctor and working out a diet and exercise plan that works for you. That’s your call and with enough work and persistence, I suspect you’ll experience some success.
But to everyone else who just can’t win the battle or doesn’t want to wage it, then I think acceptance is key.
Weight Gain and Self-Worth
Now I know that people judge themselves (especially women) by the number seen on the scale. It’s not like I haven’t done this or don’t understand this. But this is patently ridiculous. Letting a number that you only partially control run your life is like letting the type of car you drive run your life. Not everyone can afford a Lamborghini.
And I know that this type of judgement tends to feed right into feelings of depression, which is a double whammy for people with bipolar disorder.
And while it’s true that just saying that this judgement is illogical doesn’t make the feeling go away, especially after years of judgement, if we want to feel better, it’s a feeling we have to stand up to and fight.
Other People Accept Our Weight Gain Just Fine
The thing is, most of the people around us accept our shape just fine. I’ve been through many dress sizes and I don’t remember a friend remarking on it even once. In fact, I don’t recall a lover commenting on it either. (Well, except one person who was concerned I was losing too much weight. Different thing.) While, in our heads, we think everyone is judging us for our weight, the fact of the matter is that is a self-centered view. Other people just don’t give it that much thought.
Accept the Weight Gain Already!
So, knowing that there’s only so much of the number on the scale that we control, understanding that judging ourselves for it is illogical and admitting that other people just don’t care about it, the only thing left is acceptance. Acceptance of a body change isn’t easy, it’s a process, but it’s one that we can do and that we must do for our own happiness.
And if nothing else, remember this: sanity before vanity. I’d rather be fat and happy than skinny and depressed any day of the week.
You can find Natasha Tracy on Facebook or GooglePlus or @Natasha_Tracy on Twitter or at the Bipolar Burble, her blog.
APA Reference
Tracy, N.
(2013, October 22). Accepting Weight Gain in Bipolar Disorder, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, December 26 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/breakingbipolar/2013/10/accepting-weight-gain-bipolar-disorder
Author: Natasha Tracy
Can of Worms, or Pandora's Box . . .
First, to Cyndi, that's kind of the point of taking the meds. So if it doesn't do that, then it may be worth revisiting.
Regarding the whole weight gain thing, it just makes my head spin in about a thousand directions.
Two years ago, I had a major upset in my life, tremendously so. I also had a hiking fall. And so in that entire year following I was pretty darn inactive. I'd gone from hiking 5 days a week to not at all, for the most part. In that year of inactivity, I gained 20 pounds. Then 6-8 months later, I started seroquel. Within maybe 2-3 months, I'd gained about 10 more pounds. I'm not overly concerned about it all because I work out with a trainer 2-3 times a week, and I stay as active as much as I can. But weight? I hate it. The proportionate ratios? I hate that too. I just want my old self back.
I try not to fret about it; I hardly ever even weigh myself. But I hate it all the same.
One step at a time! Literally!
Metformen has been found to reduce weight gain from antipsychotics- something I wish was known when I went on Zyprexa. I gained huge amounts of weight on it. I've lost a little with metformen, but I'm still obese. It has health consequences, social consequences, even economic consequences (my health insurance through my job will reward people with healthy BMI with extra money to their health savings accounts- money I won't get). And it is double discrimination from doctors- first you have a mental illness, and now you are fat. There are orthopedic surgeons who won't operate on you if your BMI is over 30. I know, I work with some. That said, if you have an illness that is really hard to control, and there aren't many drugs that work for you- it can be worth is for quality of life to stay on a medication even if it causes weight gain. Insulin and steroids cause weight gain, and there are times those are used because nothing else will work. Weight gain, diabetes, and tardive dyskinesia. We need better drugs.
I'm having a hard time with the weight gain and people around feel the need to bring it to my attention like I dont know. It's hard especially since I weighed 100lbs soaking wet since high school. I tell them well you can have a skinny lunatic or a somewhat normal chunky one....
This question is directed at Natasha, I've always been curious to find out, after you have started on medications. Do you feel u can manage the moods better ?Do you feel you get less of the depressed lows, and is your sleep better also?
Since I am on the right meds for me Seroquel and Zoloft I have gone from a 14 to an 18. When I took Lamictal and Effexor and still crazy I was a 14. So I don't want to commit suicide but I am fat.
Giiiiiirl I know how you feel. The stigma is real but you know what ppl can feel you insecurity. Just LOVE YOUR self so rigorously that no one has the gal to try an say anything negative to you and if they drag you drag them right on back haha it is what it is. You chose life over death and that's a GOOD thing.
I find it extremely difficult to accept many things about bipolar, and my weight gain is the most striking of this difficulty. I have joined the YMCA, not really for weight reduction but overall health improvement as I have quit smoking in the past 2 weeks. Also I find it helps me socialize. My hope is to tone my body somewhat with the realization that my medications and genetic makeup will still control my weight, etc.
Hi Susan,
I cant believe your mother in law gifted you a set of scales! Im shocked! The thing is people dont often connect the two together. I feel i always get comments like well stop being lazy, which is clearly not the case. If it was i would have done something about it by now. I used to be tiny and now im not, i have days where i dont mind and days where i do but it is definitely not for others to judge you on or to decide whats best for you!
Oddly enough other people in my life seem to have had more trouble accepting my weight gain than I have accepting my own. I really believe it bothers my son and has caused him to become overly vigilant with his own weight, even though he's always been on the small side. My worst memory, however, was the Christmas my mother-in-law gifted all the women in our family with awesome little household toolkits while my present was a digital bathroom scale. Needless to say, I was humiliated, and it damaged our relalationship forever. If people could only understand ...
HM it's kinda nice when difficulties happen in our lives we get to see who is real and who is trashhhhhhh. You're better than that but love yourself unconditionally and say oh thanks lol no need to be bitter lots of ppl dying out there poor homeless etc be happy you're not one of them and that you don't have some other more deadly disease. Acceptance is the way to go. Love you're self. Ur still hott!
OH, isn't this just a timely blog, only two days before I head back to the doctor after a 7 year sabaticle? ;0) No one else seems to mind my weight, just wish I could convince myself not to mind it either.