Depression and Dieting: Unconscious Choices?

In a previous post I outlined the similarities between the mindset of a person who is depressed and the mindset of a chronic dieter. Both are characterized by unhappiness and the conclusion that their present state of being is unacceptable.

The term dieter is used in its broadest sense here. I’m referring to anyone struggling to keep their calorie intake low and their activity high enough to lose weight or prevent further gain. In other words, the majority of people living in a westernized society.

In my last article I posed the question: Is depression causing obesity or is obesity causing depression?

In short, the answer is both and the degree of which will depend on each person at specific times of their life. For these reasons, it is worth investigating the potential epidemic of depression in addition to the epidemic of obesity.

I truly believe that without feeling good ‘now’ we are doomed to continue seeking short term rewards such as high fat foods and physical inactivity rather than pursuing healthy behaviors in order to feel good ‘later’. Of course feeling good now becomes less likely with every pound that we gain.

What is it about our lifestyle that is causing greater rates of unhappiness? With all of our time saving devices and improvements in medicine humans should be rejoicing, not feeling down in the dumps.

In general, our busy lifestyles, information overload, overwhelming number of responsibilities and incessant need to get more accomplished than is humanly possible in any given day are obvious targets to point our text messaging fingers at. It is as if the present moment has been reduced to a ‘means of getting there’ or as an obstacle that we must overcome in order to be happy. Of course, this satisfaction never occurs.

When we are working, we wish for retirement. When retired, we wish to be working and feel useful. Unease seems to pervade our lives at all stages. When our children are young we look forward to the day that they can feed and look after themselves. When they grow up and no longer need our support, we wish they would spend more time with us. This constant judgment and thinking is exhausting and creates an underlying unhappiness.

We are here, but we seem to always wish to be there. We don’t feel good now so we choose behaviors that provide immediate reward or to calm our anxious mind. In short, we choose instant relief over long-term progress.

Of course, it is not only what we are doing, but what we are not doing that contributes to this unease. This is what I’ll explore in the next post in the Depression and Diet Thinking Series.

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