Of course, the main reason for being overweight- Excessive appetite with a sedentary lifestyle. Research shows that obese people eat almost twice as much protein, fat, and carbohydrates as lean people. They eat more muffins, sweets, fatty and salty foods. In addition, spices and alcohol abuse can significantly increase body weight. Moreover, not only frequent meals, but also rare plentiful feasts lead to obesity.
However, almost all of us like to eat well and tasty, and some also drink, and many prefer a soft sofa to treadmills, but at the same time, few become extremely fat. And this means that there are other, equally significant, reasons for being overweight. This may be a dysfunction of one of the important parts of the brain - the hypothalamus, reduced secretion of the thyroid and pancreas, or heredity. Almost half of overweight people have a hereditary predisposition to be overweight, and if both parents in the family are rather obese, then their children are also likely to suffer from overweight.
Reasons for being overweight lie in frequent feasts with a wide variety of dishes, in refined foods, of which there are quite a lot in our diet. In addition, we gain weight because we do not want to be busy and active, choosing low-energy work and lazy rest. And often we even justify our laziness by the fact that physical activity increases appetite, and we, de, are contraindicated to eat a lot. The excuse is wrong - the appetite after physical exertion rises because the body is trying to compensate for energy costs. It has nothing to do with the accumulation of extra calories. In addition, lazy people - lovers of good food, also always have a very good appetite. And not every one of them wants to fight it.
Normal appetite is designed primarily to control the balance between the amount of energy received from food and its consumption. And then, when the functions of saturation centers are violated, this mechanism fails. In this case, even with overeating, the brain continues to signal the body's need for food. And we continue to eat, despite the fact that this is no longer necessary. Energy, having no outlet, is transformed into an inert tissue, which, in turn, needs to be nourished. The tissue grows, fatty deposits are formed, which also require energy supply. Such a vicious circle from which it is very difficult to escape.
Women are overweight more than men. Pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding - all this is very conducive to fullness. Hormonal disruptions and age-related changes reduce the rate of metabolic processes, and body weight begins to gradually increase.
And play an important role in the accumulation of fats. Nervous tension caused by the instability of existence, malfunctions, stress must be compensated for by some kind of pleasure. And delicious food is always an affordable pleasure. As a result, we do not solve our problems, but seize them. Problems are accumulating, appetite is growing, and with it, weight is growing. A new problem appears - excess body weight, which leads to a decrease in self-esteem, the creation of a new inferiority complex and depression. And we are already eating with a vengeance. Again a vicious circle.
Quite common psychological reason for being overweight- marriage. As soon as many of us find a family, we calm down. The need to keep fit in search of a life partner disappears, peace and stability appear, and with them comes fullness.
However, there are also unmarried ladies who stubbornly avoid intimacy with men because of some internal fears. And, despite the fact that they do their best to look elegant, the brain, focusing on the subconscious, based on these fears, installation, is programmed to create a rather unattractive figure. This program works on overeating, in which, of course, there is no need.
We can uncontrollably get better if we do not get enough sleep, because due to the accumulated fatigue, a failure occurs in the mechanism responsible for appetite. Reasons for being overweight lie in, poor in carbohydrates, in the habit of eating, watching television programs, in large plates on which we put a lot of food. Arranging dinners or lunches in front of the TV screen and fitting a lot of different goodies on large plates, we stubbornly cultivate our conditioned reflexes: eat while looking at the screen and empty the whole dish. And it takes very little time for an incredible appetite to appear immediately after pressing the button on the remote control, and demand, for its satisfaction, more and more food.
Reasons for being overweight need to be recognized. Otherwise, no one, even the most strict ones, will save you from completeness. Their effect will be temporary and very unreliable. Behavior modification, mental and physical activity, optimism and the desire for a fulfilling life will minimize the risk of overweight. And let us not become as graceful as the girls on the covers of glossy magazines - not everyone can be the same! But we will have appetizing rounded shapes, and will not turn into loose fat women suffering from a whole arsenal of diseases.
Olga Kocheva
Women's magazine JustLady
The extra pounds that have settled on the waist and hips not only make you look at your reflection with sadness, but also cause a lot of health problems. But while some people can stay in great shape without trying too hard, others are sometimes not helped by the most effective methods of losing weight. What's the matter?
"Beautiful and Successful" recalls that the psychological causes of excess weight are sometimes more harmful to the figure than malnutrition or lack of movement.
The main psychological causes of excess weight
Psychologists have identified several reasons why a person gains weight.
- The desire to "have weight" in society. Do you remember what a significant person is called? "Figure", "bump" or even "lump"! It is perceived as something big, weighty, isn't it? And if a person fails to attract the attention of others due to his successes, professional achievements or something else, the subconscious mind decides to gain extra pounds in order to “take a place in space” at least in this way.
- Inability to adequately express emotions. This is a fairly common psychological cause of excess weight. Since childhood, we have been taught to hide tears and resentments, not to laugh too loudly, to hide anger and disappointment. Many are so accustomed to this that they have completely forgotten how to recognize what they really feel. And, experiencing fear, anxiety or disappointment, they simply confuse these emotions with hunger. As a result, in order for the unpleasant experience to go away, a person begins to absorb food in an amount that is excessive for the body.
- Stress and nervous tension. You can’t call a calm current life, and stress can also be considered as a psychological cause that provokes excess weight: someone loses their appetite, and someone, on the contrary, “jams” problems. The fat layer serves as a kind of protection from the outside world, helping to survive difficult times. Such "armor" may also be required if a person has received severe psychological trauma - in this case, excess weight can also serve as a kind of "shock absorber" to alleviate mental pain.
- Contradiction between "want" and "should". Internal conflict, when a person is not able to fulfill his desires, can also cause him to seek pleasure in other ways. In this sense, tasty and not always healthy food is the simplest and most affordable of them.
Why excess weight does not go away: psychological reasons
It happens that a person understands his problem and, it would seem, begins to work on himself, but does not achieve results at all, or the weight decreases for a while, and then returns again.
Another, the main psychological reason for being overweight, which we did not mention above, is the internal resistance to positive changes.
Perhaps your consciousness agrees that it is necessary to lose weight, but the subconscious mind resists these changes. And until you understand why this is happening, nothing will change.
Why do most people not want to change?
Staying fat can be beneficial
Yes, do not be surprised, but think about what hidden "bonuses" extra weight gives you. Perhaps you justify your reluctance to take care of yourself by the fact that with such a figure, no outfits and grooming procedures will help?
Or are you afraid of a new relationship and dressed in an armor of extra pounds so that you don’t get to know anyone and relieve yourself of responsibility for an unsettled personal life? Or do you have a very jealous husband, and being overweight is a guarantee of peace and tranquility in the family, because the spouse has much less reason to suspect a “lady in the body” of cheating?
Parental settings
Many psychological causes and attitudes that provoke excess weight are laid at an early age.
Remember what adults told you about food as a child. Maybe they were forced to eat everything to the last crumb? Or argued that a healthy child can not be thin?
During the morning feeding of porridge, dad constantly repeated to one girl that “men like it when girls have full legs.” Perhaps your dad or mom said something similar too? Parental attitudes are very firmly rooted in the mind, and it can be difficult to cope with them.
Imitate your favorite hero
There are other attitudes that prevent you from losing excess weight, the psychological causes of which are also rooted in childhood.
Remember what fairy tales you liked, who was your favorite character? Perhaps you were delighted with Carlson, so cheerful, reckless and ... fat? Or were you touched by Winnie the Pooh, a big fan of refreshment at any time of the day?
Of course, you have grown up a long time ago, you have other role models, but believe that for the subconscious, your favorite Kolobok at the age of 2 is much more important than any film actress or photo model that you would like to imitate now.
Self-programming with minus sign
If your figure is far from ideal, what do you tell yourself when you look in the mirror? Do you call yourself offensive words like "fat girl", "cow" or something worse?
Of course, it seems to you that by scolding yourself in this way, you stimulate the desired changes. But in fact, you give yourself the installation to live up to the label that you hang on yourself, thereby exacerbating the psychological reasons that cause excess weight. "Beautiful and Successful" advises to stop doing this immediately!
self-punishment
Perhaps by being overweight you are punishing yourself for something .. And since you are already so in your own eyes, then why not be fat as well?
It’s as if you are saying to yourself: “Since you haven’t succeeded in one thing, get punished in the form of a blurry figure!”. Think about whether you have such a setup?
Misplaced priorities
And finally, you may just be torn between the desire to have a perfect figure and cravings for delicious "junk" food. Both of these desires are great and are in a state of constant struggle. Well, it's time to decide on priorities, as well as analyze what is your true reason for loving "".
We hope that by understanding your psychological reasons that do not allow you to lose weight, you will be able to get rid of them, and at the same time from annoying kilograms!
8 psychological causes of excess weight. Test yourself!
Most people, having discovered that they began to gain extra pounds, do not want to put up with this situation.
More often, the fight against hated fat is fought by women, although this also applies to men. Magic diets, secret methods, visits to gyms, dietary supplements and weight loss teas, a ban on eating after six in the evening and many other ways to lose weight faster, invented by inventive humanity, are used. Those who have thoroughly and competently understood the issue of losing weight are moving away from diets to a change in lifestyle and eating behavior. The psychological causes of excess weight are not taken into account.
This kind of commitment brings good results. But time passes, breakdowns begin, a healthy lifestyle disappears somewhere, excess weight returns, bringing with it additional kilograms. Then another punch on the table, and all over again. Over the years, these events are harder to pass each time.
Some obese people, realizing that this is not normal, cannot begin to lose weight in any way. They find reasons that prevent them or simply do nothing.
Why is this happening?
Excess body weight has its own nature:
- health problems, such as disorders in the endocrine system, chronic fatigue, age-related changes, metabolic disorders;
- ignorance in the matter of nutrition (malnutrition), thoughtless absorption of food in order to get enough no matter what, and also low physical activity;
- psychological causes of fullness, which are widespread.
Root of the problem in the head
The events that occur in our lives cause us positive, negative or mixed emotions. Experienced feelings often do not pass without a trace, under their influence, we subsequently unconsciously begin to behave one way or another.
In the psychology of excess weight, quite a lot of prerequisites have been identified, due to which food in life begins to play an exaggerated role and ceases to simply relieve us of hunger in order to maintain body functions at the proper level.
1. It has historically happened in the family
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Many of us had a Soviet childhood, our parents certainly did. More distant ancestors went through wars, famine, years of food shortages. For the rest of their lives, they consciously or not feared a repetition of such a horror.
Tried to stock up on food. Breaking tables from a variety of dishes for the holidays and well-fed children in the family were considered a sign of well-being. By persuasion or threats, the child was forced to finish everything on the plate. Despite the absence of hunger, it was necessary to eat at the right time. Parents reacted violently to the increased children's appetite, focused the attention of the child on this, laying in the head the stereotype that he is good if he eats a lot.
In conclusion, exemplary behavior was rewarded with sweets. Thus, in many families, too much importance was attached to sugar-containing foods that have an extremely low nutritional value.
As adults, many unconsciously copy the lifestyle of their parents.
2. Psychological trauma, shock
Under the influence of the tragedy experienced, a reassessment of values occurs, for example, the loss of a loved one, divorce, war or the elements. There is not enough support, the opportunity to express their emotions, to live their grief to the end. . To cope with feelings that do not allow to live, a person overeats and gains kilograms. This situation is a special case in the psychology of obesity. Contacting a psychologist helps to live the situation to the end and cope with overeating.
3. Secondary benefits
Unconsciously, overweight people pursue secondary gains.
The leader increases authority and significance in the eyes of subordinates due to the presence of a massive figure.
The wife gets rid of her husband's jealousy by getting fatter and becoming less attractive in appearance.
Housewives maintain a reputation for hospitable skillful cooks.
Girls who have experienced sexual abuse subconsciously strive to spoil the figure so that potential rapists do not pay attention to them.
Obese people manipulate their loved ones, becoming helpless in everyday life and constantly asking for help, loading them with assignments. In society, there are fewer requirements for such people, and this is also their secondary benefit.
In such a situation, a person who wants to lose weight does not suspect that internally he really does not want this and is afraid.
4. Jamming stress and problems
This is one of the most common psychological reasons for being overweight, as life is always full of problems.
Cortisol is a hormone that is produced during times of stress and is released into the bloodstream in the abdominal cavity. He is also responsible for weight gain and fat deposition, in large quantities disrupts the work of metabolic processes. Stressful conditions exacerbate hunger and stimulate appetite, making it extremely difficult to control yourself while eating.
Food in this case acts as a medicine or compensation for the experience, it makes it possible to relax.
- Experiencing a lack of love and support from the outside, a feeling of loneliness and uselessness, a person starts an affair with food. He finds positive emotions in the endless eating of something tasty.
- A woman, subjected to moral or physical tyranny by her husband, eats extra pounds. This is a kind of revenge, the desire that the spouse get a fat wife for his behavior.
- Workload, conflict situations, debts, loans, naughty children. The list of problems is endless, everyone has their own. With this burden on his shoulders, a person comes to the refrigerator in the evening and takes everything out of it. It would seem that it is necessary to mobilize forces to overcome difficulties, to prioritize, and not to acquire another difficulty in the form of obesity and poor health. But not everything is so simple. If you can’t leave the vicious circle on your own, this is a direct reason to contact a specialist in order to work out the psychological causes of excess weight.
- A boring and monotonous life leads to the fact that a person is distracted with the help of pickles. As a result, high-calorie food (namely, it is more often regarded by the brain as yummy) obscures all the joys of life.
- Fat people are most often kind and peaceful. There is such a stereotype. But how do they manage to stay that way? They are used to keeping negative emotions in themselves in order to gain social approval. Inside, everything can rage. This is also stressful.
5. Guilt, self-hatred
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Guilt is a feeling that destroys from within. Self-flagellation and the desire to punish oneself sometimes leads to the use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs. We have to make it worse than it is. This scenario applies to overeating as well. As punishment, you get an ugly figure.
Most of the world's religions preach the idea that you need to love your neighbor as yourself. But it is just right to call some people to love themselves as their neighbor. Rigid self-criticism sometimes knows no bounds.
Self-dislike runs like a red thread in the psychology of obesity. Work on this problem is difficult and enormous, but necessary.
6. Low self-esteem
Self-esteem gives us an idea of ourselves, our place in society, our ability to accomplish or achieve certain goals. Life results are directly dependent on self-esteem.
A person with adequate self-esteem sets goals (for example, to bring the figure back to normal), achieves them, and in case of difficulties, reconsiders the solutions.
It's harder for people with low self-esteem. They consider themselves a priori losers, doomed to failure in any endeavor. They broadcast their indecision, inability to achieve results into the outside world and receive confirmation in response. As a result, the perception of oneself as unsuccessful increases, and the circle closes.
Low self-esteem and self-hatred tend to go hand in hand.
7. Hide behind your own weight
The psychology of excess weight also highlights such a category as building psychological protection in the form of a set of kilograms.
Being hypersensitive, a person experiences a fear of re-experiencing painful experiences. Unsuccessfully established relationships, betrayal, betrayal, a failed career. It becomes easier for a person to go into seclusion than to face the ups and downs of life again. And as a consolation, all the same endless snacks.
Hiding behind obesity is a way to give up responsibility for your life, which leads down the wrong path to dissatisfaction, stress, depression. Emotionally it becomes easier only for a while.
8. Willpower and motivation
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One well-known nutritionist has a rather harsh example. The woman at the reception complained that her lack of willpower prevents her from losing weight. She was asked if she could find harmony if (God forbid!) The life of her child depended on it. Certainly!
So, whether there is willpower or not, the question is relative. It's all about motivation.
Women often decide to start losing weight in order to fit into their favorite dress, for a holiday, or just to spite a neighbor.
Suppose the scales showed the treasured numbers, the neighbor turned green with envy. What's next?
Let's get a look. Overweight did not appear overnight. He's been recruiting for years. A person adapted to life in a new body, not only consciously, but also subconsciously over a long time.
The subconscious is conservative. Having got used to life with excess weight, it found it optimal and is not going to change anything.
The decision to lose weight is made on a conscious level. The will is gathered into a fist, whatever motivation is spoken out, and weight loss begins. But the subconscious does not need this, because it has not been convinced of this. Moreover, it perceives the ongoing changes as a shock and a threat to survival.
Here it is important to start the path with the subconscious in mind. Own thoughts help control the subconscious.
A beautiful wardrobe, the admiration of others are pleasant bonuses of a harmonious body. The real motivation lies in the fact that only harmony can restore health and a fulfilling life.
It is she who helps to set realistic goals and deadlines for achieving them, adopt a new lifestyle, maintain weight, and will not fade away even after a person has reached the desired size.
It is often difficult for people to work with their subconscious, to work out motivation. There is a risk, faced with difficulties, to quit everything. This is what the psychology of excess weight is designed to deal with.
Psychological help
There are no miracles on the way to harmony. We rush in search of a magic pill and a secret technique, mostly out of desperation.
Sooner or later, everyone comes to the understanding that it is not in his power to change nature, to rebuild the laws of biomechanics and biochemistry. Basic knowledge of how everything works and happens is needed.
With a serious approach to bringing your body in order, you may need the help of a nutritionist with medical research, an experienced trainer. Their work will be effective in combination with the work of a psychologist.
Identification of the psychological causes of excess weight logically implies their further development in order to correct them.
Individual work on oneself, psychological trainings in a group, according to the results, help to gain confidence in success, increase self-esteem, overcome complexes, find non-food pleasures in life, and determine the right motivation.
Yes, and the work itself is fascinating and interesting, gives an objective personal assessment, allows you to draw the right conclusions, start acting. Thanks to timely adjustment and support of trainings, the transition to a new lifestyle is painless and natural. This result is definitely worth the effort.
The number of people with . The problem of obesity affects all people equally. According to statistics in Russia, a third of the population suffers from obesity, and this is an impressive figure. Most clinics, narrow specialists, nutritionists offer expensive treatment, exhausting diets, intense workouts, but the weight returns. The connection of many somatic diseases with the psyche has long been known. Obesity is no exception. Psychosomatics is given special attention, because ladies are more vulnerable, emotional, sensitive natures. The roots of many diseases in them can be found by studying the psychological characteristics of the individual.
Psychosomatics is a branch of medicine and psychology that studies the influence of a person's psychological characteristics on the occurrence of somatic diseases. There is a popular opinion among doctors that character traits, behavior style, emotions, temperament are of great importance in the appearance of body diseases. Pathologies with a proven psychosomatic nature include:
- Bronchial asthma.
- Panic attacks (vegetative disorders).
- Arterial hypertension with an unspecified cause.
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
- Obesity.
Why you need to deal with the problem
Obesity is a chronic progressive metabolic disease, manifested by excessive deposition of adipose tissue in the body, followed by an increase in body weight. The disease has a chronic nature, it is difficult to treat, the weight returns. This happens for reasons of positive energy balance, when the body receives more energy than it can spend. The problem of obesity is multifaceted, it has more causes than cures. Overweight people have many diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases, live less, are largely limited, and the quality of life and social communication also suffer.
Complications of excess weight:
- Diseases of the heart and blood vessels (hypertension, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, arrhythmia).
- Respiratory congestive failure.
- Diabetes mellitus type 2.
- Vascular atherosclerosis is common (intermittent claudication).
- Violation of cerebral circulation.
- Joint diseases (deforming osteoarthrosis, osteochondrosis).
- Fatty infiltration of the liver.
Causes of obesity
For the successful treatment of this disease, it is necessary to determine the causes that cause it. Doctors identify three main points in the emergence of obesity.
Physiological factors
These include overeating. When a person begins to consume more food than necessary, the excess reserves do not have time to be wasted, they are deposited under the skin, as well as in the internal organs. The problem is relevant for people with a sedentary lifestyle, sedentary work, unwillingness to play sports. Gradually, the stomach of such patients begins to stretch, the feeling of fullness is late, you have to eat more food to satisfy your food instinct.
It is customary to distinguish several conditions that provoke weight gain:
- Decreased motor activity.
- Hereditary feature of slow metabolism.
- Pregnancy, lactation, oral contraceptives.
- Long-term hormonal treatment.
Social factors
Society means society. These reasons include:
- Family traditions, habits.
- Excessive overfeeding of the child in childhood, which may be associated with the fears of parents, the desire to satisfy the baby's need for food.
- Eating behavior at work, among friends and in a team.
- The manner of eating quickly, impulsively, out of necessity, not out of desire.
Systematic overeating with a low consumption of energy reserves leads to rapid weight gain. Changing social causes is much more difficult than changing physiological ones, where simple overeating takes place.
Psychological factors
Psychosomatics of excess weight is a complex concept. Not many nutritionists take into account the psychological factor when prescribing a diet. Most of them do not even think about the subconscious causes of extra pounds. The result of such a diet will always be the same. After some time, body weight will return to the previous figures. We are almost close to the psychosomatic causes of obesity in women. It remains only to find out what is female nature?
Mental characteristics of women
The mental system of women, their way of thinking, reasoning, logic and much more are very different from those of men. Ladies are always hungry natures. It is not only the passion for food that is invested in this concept. Women will always have few new emotions, sensations, impressions, they suffer greatly from monotony and routine, and are also very dependent on mood. Each of their actions, movements, thoughts, ideas is subject not only to reason, logic, but also to the spiritual, mental state at the moment.
But that is not all! Women have more fears, fears, superstitions. There are also negative character traits: irascibility, anger, talkativeness, envy, nervousness, hysteria. Mobile mental activity leads to the release of adrenaline and stress hormones, which greatly affects the metabolism, metabolism, hormones. Frequent failures provoke fluid retention, replenishment of glycogen, glucose, and fats.
Psychological causes of excess weight in women
Women's somatic diseases, obesity, in particular, have a purely psychological foundation.
Interesting! An undermined, destroyed, painful female psyche can affect the energy balance of the whole organism and bring it out of balance!
Stress in our lives occurs at every turn, and ladies are extremely sensitive to them, so it becomes clear where obesity takes its roots from.
- Women's emotions and overeating. In women, there is a close relationship between mood and sweets. I was nervous at work - I ate a chocolate bar. Serotonin did its job, the lady felt a surge of good mood. Gradually, this setting becomes a habit. Depression, disappointment in a life partner, divorce, any troubles are “extinguished” by eating sweets or simply overeating. Hungry natures satisfy their needs, which they cannot fulfill, with food. The body consumes a large amount of energy, which accumulates in reserve. If the harmful causative factor (depression, neurosis) is not eliminated, then pathological eating behavior is formed, leading to obesity.
- Food for the night. We believe that the evening will come, we will be able to relax at home, sitting at the table, have a delicious meal, forget about problems, deeds. That's just an imaginary pleasure! In the evening, at night, the metabolism slows down dramatically. Everything eaten at dinner will certainly be deposited on the stomach. Why is this happening? Yes, it’s just difficult for many women to imagine a non-home vacation. It is much better after work to swim in the pool, run in the park, ride a bike. It is not always possible to fulfill the plan, and the reason for this is the habitual way of thinking that has developed over the years, which you absolutely do not want to change.
- Food is a sense of security. Pathology of the psyche comes from childhood. Psychologists call this the baby syndrome. In early childhood, babies sometimes require their mother's breasts not because they are hungry, but to feel comfortable and protected. With age, this reflex fades, but not for everyone. Under the influence of any external causes, an adult woman behaves like a child, limiting her safe zone to the kitchen, feeling secure while eating. Saturation of blood with glucose gives a unique feeling of happiness, peace, which you want to experience again.
- Excess weight is an internal conflict. Most psychiatrists and psychologists think so. There is an internal setting that it is better to be a full and curvy woman than a thin one. The mood is subconscious and such a decision is made due to reasons that even the lady herself does not suspect. Pathological beliefs prohibit being slim through a complex series of biochemical processes associated with metabolism, metabolism, the work of hormones, enzymes. In obese women, there is a direct causal relationship between weight and psychological attitude. As long as there is internal conflict, all attempts to reduce body weight by diet, intense training will lead to nothing. The subconscious will again force the body to become what it needs to be. The task of the psychologist is to find the internal cause, destroy it, and only then proceed to the fight against excess weight.
- Being overweight is beneficial. In this case, the benefits of excess weight lies in an attempt to protect yourself from the outside world, hide from communication, problems under a layer of fat folds. The benefits of fullness are expressed in the following criteria: weight justifies failures in life, gives appearance significance, solidity, obesity changes attitudes towards people, makes others take you more seriously, helps you feel loved, defenseless, evokes sympathy from loved ones, protects from a specific problem.
Excess weight therapy: psychological aspects
Before proceeding with the treatment of obesity, you need to enlist the support of the patient himself. Obesity is an addiction. Without the voluntary consent, as well as the strong desire of the woman, all attempts to treat psychosomatic obesity will fail from the very beginning.
Doctors face three challenges in treating obese patients:
- It is difficult to find an internal cause (some appeared recently, while others stretch from childhood itself).
- A woman's fear of seeing herself thin.
- Constant feeling of hunger.
The usual treatment for obesity is reduced to the appointment of medications that break down fat, reducing its absorption in the intestine. They also use means for the accelerated removal of fats from the body, various herbal diuretic preparations. The complex of therapeutic treatment is complemented by a low-calorie diet, a visit to the gym. No one will deny that the effect of such therapy is very impressive. The body weight is reduced, the patient, as well as her doctor, are satisfied with themselves and the results.
After 2-3 years, the woman again asks for help, or maybe she will give up on the problem and become even fuller than she was. So why is the weight coming back? After all, you can not sit on a strict diet all your life? There are several options for the development of events:
- Concomitant pathology of the endocrine system contributes to weight gain. There is no need to look for psychosomatics here (only 5% of people suffer from secondary obesity). Correction of the disease will help to reduce weight.
- Some manage to follow a diet, play sports all their lives, maintaining the shape of the body. This path is difficult, costly, requires willpower, free time.
- Contact a specialist, find an internal psychological problem, then eliminate it.
Finding the internal cause
Psychotherapeutic treatment of obesity in women is a modern approach that gives very good results. Excess weight is the intake of excess food in the body. Why is this happening? What subconsciously pushes a woman to overeat? Psychologists highlight several important aspects:
- The feeling of being insignificant, flawed, almost invisible in this world pushes the subconscious to gain weight, to increase its size.
- Women who have been raped also subconsciously want to become less attractive, so they gain weight.
- After the birth of a child, young mothers change their thinking, try to look more solid, more weighty, because now they bear a great responsibility for the baby. The image of a slender young girl is a thing of the past, and a new one is coming to replace it.
- Lonely ladies dump on their shoulders all the problems at home, at work, playing the role of a man who is not around.
All these aspects the woman is not aware of. No slender girl will intentionally gain weight in order to become significant, for example, at work. So decides her inner subconscious. This is the protection of the individual from the outside world, stressful situations, problems. Only a psychologist can see this conflict, bring it to the surface of the psyche, take it apart, make the patient believe in the need to reduce excess weight.
Psychotherapeutic correction (hypnosis, introspection, psychological techniques) is supplemented by a course of medications that affect emotions, mood, desires, and sleep. These drugs include tranquilizers, antipsychotics, sedatives, antidepressants. The latter are used very often in the practice of a doctor.
Weight loss
As soon as the first difficult stage of psycho-correction is passed, an internal psychological problem is discovered, you can proceed to the second stage. Some patients are looking forward to shedding extra pounds directly. Their problem is solved, they have a strong incentive, a great desire to change, to see themselves differently. This category of women will achieve the desired harmony and maintain the effect for a long time only because they have a strong enough mindset for change.
With the second group of women, the situation is less rosy, since they have too many "skeletons in the closet" that need to be eliminated before treatment with a diet or training. It can be very difficult to imagine yourself different, not the same as now. You will have to change your lifestyle, diet, schedule, expose yourself to exhausting activities. Yes, and this is not the most important thing. After all, the attitude towards oneself, towards other people, thinking and much more will change. Is any woman ready to take on such a test?
Girls come to see a psychologist who are ready to lose weight outwardly, but inside they have a barrier or prohibition. Subconsciously, they do not want to lose weight, so they find hundreds of reasons, excuses not to go to the gym, not to diet. It is extremely difficult to work with such patients, their internal conflict is difficult to overcome. If the specialist manages to do this, then the next difficulty for this category of women will be overcoming hunger.
Here are a few rules to help you get the job done:
- Food is dope, you need to use it in moderation.
- Willpower and desire will help you lose weight.
- It is important to build a mental image of a beautiful and slender woman, and then strive for it.
- Patience. Fat from the sides will not melt by morning.
- You need to take your mind off food.
In conclusion, I would like to say that women cannot live in conditions of lack of something. No one is actually asking them to do this. If there is not enough love, attention, finances, communication, comfort, new sensations, vivid emotions, then you should not resort to food as to doping. This will end badly for health and figure. There are excellent means by which you can replace the desire for a constant snack: hobbies, reading, watching a movie, visiting a museum, walking, traveling. All these methods save from obesity, and also bring the mind and psyche into a state of balance.
Excess weight is an excessive increase in body weight, accompanied by the deposition of adipose tissue. In most cases, this condition is a consequence of a violation of the process of assimilation of food and the correct expenditure of energy.
Should we talk about being overweight as a disease? First of all, it depends on what we put into this definition, and secondly, on social evaluation. It's no secret to anyone that the social and cultural values of a particular era largely determine the future assessment of a full person as attractive or unattractive.
Undoubtedly, excess weight is a factor preceding the development of many diseases. If a person is overweight, this means that he automatically falls into the risk group. Among the possible diseases caused by such a cause, first of all, it is worth mentioning high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, cholelithiasis, problems with the spine and joints. Also, excess weight reduces life expectancy and certainly affects its quality.
The main cause of excess weight is a violation of eating behavior, in which there is an excess of calories in over consumption. And at the same time, being overweight is a complex problem, so it should be understood that its appearance has many concomitant factors, including excessive food intake, a sedentary lifestyle, bad habits learned from childhood, hereditary predisposition, hormonal disorders, endocrine diseases. .
Psychoanalysts tend to argue that obesity in a child is caused by relationships with parents. Thus, the tendency to overeat is an attempt to protect oneself from existing negative emotions and forcing fear, a human desire to please oneself. Psychoanalysts say that overweight people equate food and love with each other, they tend to console themselves with food for the lack of sincere love for themselves. In all cases of mental discomfort, food can serve as a source of replacement for feelings of loss or disappointment.
By the way, this behavior of the child may also be due to simply a typical reaction to the average family situation in which parents distract the child by giving him something tasty when he cries or is in pain.
The data obtained with the help of psychological tests more clearly demonstrate the different nature of the personality characteristics of patients with different degrees of obesity. Thus, personality disintegration and severe stress are typical for 55% with the 1st degree of obesity, 33% with the 2nd degree and 12% with the 3rd degree. Emotional stress and the desire for self-compensation are more pronounced in people with the 1st degree of obesity - 64%, but 18% each are in patients with the 2nd degree of obesity and overweight. Difficulties in adaptation are inherent in 71% of the surveyed with the 1st degree of obesity, 14% - with the 2nd degree, 10% - with overweight and 5% - with the 3rd degree of obesity.
It should also be understood that the factors that lead to excess weight in one person will not necessarily have the same effect on another. When conducting a psychological interview, the most common reasons named by the interviewed people were the loss of a loved one, difficult mental states, tense and stressful situations. Let's talk more about each point.
1. Frustration at the loss of the object of love. For example, leaving the parental home, parting with a close (relative, beloved) person, or the death of a spouse can lead to excess weight. Of course, for the reasons described above, women are more prone to overweight, this is due to their natural vulnerability and sensitivity.
2. General depression, emptiness, fear of loneliness, guilt, anger and aggression - all these feelings can be a serious reason for the impulsive process of eating.
3. Situations accompanied by a high level of stress, requiring considerable tension, concentration of attention, accompanied by vigorous activity, prolonged wakefulness awaken in many people an increased need for food consumption. Examples of such situations could be exam preparation, a disaster, or a military situation.
In the course of such situations, food is of particular importance, as it is a substitute for satisfaction. It strengthens the sense of security, relieves pain, disappointment, loss. This mechanism is very similar to the feeling of comfort experienced by a child who was given sweets from childhood to distract from pain, illness, or loss. Many overweight people had similar experiences in childhood that led them to unconscious psychosomatic behavioral responses.
To be continued…
