Belly Fat Induced By Stress And Anxiety: Can Mental Health Conditions Lead To Weight Gain?

Can Mental Health Be The Reason Behind Weight Gain? Is your poor mental health causing weight gain? The answer is yes. Mental health conditions trigger your stress hormones causing an over-release in the body. This is not normal and for people with mental health conditions, higher cortisol level may even be a daily thing. This not only leads to an imbalance in hormones but also leads to other bad habits which may exacerbate the condition and eventually lead to weight gain.Stress Yes, stress-induced weight gain is real. When you are stressed, your body releases cortisol. The more stressed you feel, the more cortisol your body will release. Cortisol is a steroid which regulates promotes fat storage in the body and impact appetite and eating habits.Anxiety Anxiety causes stress and stress can cause weight gain. How? It can lead to a spike in cortisol levels and blood sugar levels in the body. When the blood glucose and insulin levels are high, you will start to crave all kind of foods and end up overeating which will then lead to weight gain.Depression Depression can also lead to weight gain and belly fat gain. Why? A depressed person usually folows a very healthy routine. It may consist of untimely eating, binge eating, alcohol consumption and complete lack of activity. All these things including stress leads to weight gain.Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Yes, PTSD can lead to weight gain and here's why. PTSD leads to a chronically stressed state of mind and this is because the person has experienced immense trauma. Trauma takes time to process and health from and during the healing period a person might gain weight.Obsessive Compulsive Disorder People with OCD may also face issues with chronic stress. OCD is resemble by obsessive and complusive habits and the people who are affected by it have a hard time functioning normally. They may also have a hard time staying stress free. Thus, high cortisol levels can lead to weight gain.