Depression

[quetiapina]

I am intending to write to the Welsh Assembly re. their unfair rules on WLS.

One of the topics I want to bring up with them is the depression, anxiety etc that people have felt/been treated for and

A) Was this directly attributed to being morbidly obese/ sense of despair and failure etc. How?

B) Was it indirectly caused by weight problems PLUS personal situation. How?

C) Did it make a pre-existing depression worse? How?

Any other points would be great.

For myself, I have had Bipolar for most of my adult life - getting worse, until 5 years ago I was made medically redundant from work.

Although this condition is obviously pre-existing, I do think that being so overweight has definitely affected the depression side of the illness, being embarrassed to go out, finding walking hard, and caught in the despair of never losing a significant amount of weight once I had reached my highest weight.

Your thoughts would be gratefully received

Jen x

 

[quetiapina]

Oh yes, I mean this for everyone, not just people in Wales (otherwise there would be about 4 of us).

 

[thinkbethin]

Good luck Jenni!!

 

[SarahSez]

All I can say is that when I was overweight I was desperately unhappy. I had no self-confidence and I would never go out. All I did was go to work and come home and hide away. If I had to go into town I would walk with my head down so I didn't see anyone I knew. Hurtful comments although seemingly innocent to the person saying them would cut like a knife.

It got the the stage where the only thing keeping me going was the fact that my children had no-one but me.

I had been depressed before when my husband and I seperated but gaining lots of weight took that to a whole new level.

I didn't have WLS to loose weight, only for the tummy tuck but at the time I would have done anything to loose weight. I did go and see a doctor at the surgery (not my own doctor but another at the practice) - she weighed me and told me to come back in 6 months. 2 months later i had put on another half stone. I came to a point where I thought I had to take back control of my life or live the rest of my life in a virtual hell.

 

[Mazza]

Hi Jenni

I think thats an excellent idea. Attitudes towards WLS and treating the 'problem' of obesity definatly need changing. Too often in the media people who chose to go down this route are potrayed as some sort of underclass. Not to mention the thoughts of those who see us as lazy and a drain on society and the NHS.

They dont realise that we didnt chose or want to be this way and the effect peoples attitudes have on us.

Good luck with your letter, let us know how you get on with it!

Maz x

 

[quetiapina]

Thanks for the responses and support people. Any more would be gratefully received. Sarah, I can totally relate to every thing being out of control. Thankyou for sharing that.

 

[margaretmc]

Hi Jenni
That's a great idea your going to do . The depression got worse the bigger I got . I hate going out and the only time I do go is if I have to about once a fortnight to do the shopping or to go to the Doctors or hospital . Good luck with it . Take care .
Margaret xx
PS
That's a fantastic weight loss youve done lol keep up the good work .

 

[quetiapina]

Thanks Margaret x

 

[LizzieBee]

Hi Jenni

I think I could write a paper on the affect my weight had on my mental health which then spilt out into personal relationships.

Let me know if you want details but the summary is that I was in an abusive relationship and got bigger & bigger until I started on the WLS road, once funding was approved I left him. I know that getting my weight issues sorted is a big factor to my inner happiness.

My three daughters (all teenage) miss the Mum they used to have that was confident, fiesty and ready for anything.

I know that a huge amount of my thought processes are taken up by my weight, constantly doing risk assessments re: journeys, shopping, peoples' attitudes, chair sizes, passing people in aisles.... It goes on and on. I do look forward to that extra space being filled with frollicks and laughter.

Lots of luck with the paper and good on ya!

Lx

 

[Snowcrystal]

I am intending to write to the Welsh Assembly re. their unfair rules on WLS.

One of the topics I want to bring up with them is the depression, anxiety etc that people have felt/been treated for and

A) Was this directly attributed to being morbidly obese/ sense of despair and failure etc. How?

B) Was it indirectly caused by weight problems PLUS personal situation. How?

C) Did it make a pre-existing depression worse? How?

Any other points would be great.

For myself, I have had Bipolar for most of my adult life - getting worse, until 5 years ago I was made medically redundant from work.

Although this condition is obviously pre-existing, I do think that being so overweight has definitely affected the depression side of the illness, being embarrassed to go out, finding walking hard, and caught in the despair of never losing a significant amount of weight once I had reached my highest weight.

Your thoughts would be gratefully received

Jen x

Hi Jen

I think it's a good idea to write to the Welsh Assembly as something has to be done about the inequality of health care up and down the entire country...And I don't suppose that you pay any less in NI contributions, therefore you should be entitled to the same treatment.

I used to see the news on television and read in the papers about there being this huge divide in hospital treatment...I never realised it was so bad until I came here and read some of waiting times and treatment...So well done you, I'm sure you'll get a lot of support.

Getting back to your questions above I think it is the perpetual vicious circle and can be applied any way around, weight causing depression and depression causing weight.

My husband has seen the changes in me when I'm overweight as he thinks I can handle things confidently when I'm a 'normal' weight and hide away when 'obese'.

Over the last 5 - 6 years I had developed a few conditions which made it harder for me to lose weight no matter what diets I did. So you could say that in my case there were pre-existing conditions caused the weight gain, and now because of it I am riddled with stress and get very down about it. (Depression I think is borderline with me, although my family might disagree with that)

I have been treated for depression for bereavement and I can say that this can cause weight gain. The medication makes you gain weight. And so back to the perpetual vicious circle.

Good luck with this and well done.

{hugs}

 

[halve me]

sorry dont have any ideas, but just to say good luck and what a fab idea. (i have a lot of family in south wales who would benefit from wls and cant get it) x

 

[Snowcrystal]

Hi Again

You know I'm not very good at being honest with myself...I don't like to admit a problem...I sat writing the ^above^ as feelings from the past when only yesterday I was in the doctors surgery and he signed me off for stress (and back problems) for another 2 weeks from work...I burst into tears explaining why I was down over this really distressing situation I have with my daughter right now.

I could have had anti-depressants but chose to ride out this storm; my husband and son think I should take something as they are really worried that my stress will cause a heart attack.

Would I have handled things differently if I were slim? Yes, I think I would have because I would have just had the immediate problem at hand to deal with instead of the pile up of problems you tent to have being over-weight. Plus I would be able to redirect my energies into something else like exercise etc. Plus, I would have been able to run after this daughter of mine and give her the hiding she never had...lol (Only joking).

~hugs~

 

[BlueDiamond]

Hello , This is a fabulous Idea, I was always under the understanding that depression didnt have an impact on the decision from the surgeon etc. What I am trying to say is that I thought (could be wrong) that depression isnt classed as a co-morbidities and was not taken into account when considering wls, got the impression docs are more opposed (if thats the right word) to do surgery because of ppl's state of mind.
If I am wrong about any of this I am sorry , just the impression I got from other people.

All the best - MeJulie xx

 

[Snowcrystal]

Hello , This is a fabulous Idea, I was always under the understanding that depression didnt have an impact on the decision from the surgeon etc. What I am trying to say is that I thought (could be wrong) that depression isnt classed as a co-morbidities and was not taken into account when considering wls, got the impression docs are more opposed (if thats the right word) to do surgery because of ppl's state of mind.
If I am wrong about any of this I am sorry , just the impression I got from other people.

All the best - MeJulie xx

Hi Julie

Just my opinion but

I thought this too...I think if there is a history of depression then they have investigate further to see if there are serious eating disorders which in turn would need extra help.

Not a 100% sure on this as I did some research into this and I have never found the right answer. I think this is because some surgeons see the depression as a potential problem and some see the WLS as an end to depression.

Back to individual opinions I guess....Not sure thiugh.

 

[quetiapina]

Thankyou so much for your insights Snow, really appreciate them, and hope things start to look up for you soon. I had a lot of problems with my son when he was in his teens (drugs). It was heart breaking and a lot of tough love was involved but he's grown up out of it now and is off to Uni in Sept (finally).

Hi BD, thankyou for your post. Yes, you are right re. depression not being considered a co-morbidity my intention is to get accross to the medical people at the Welsh Assembly that being obese affects people's quality of life - depression being a good indicator of being unable to sustain a positive outlook and "can-do" attitude to life. This will certainly effect a person's ability to lose weight conventionally and keep it off.

Thanks people - more views very welcome indeed - also if you have never been depressed. x