How Does Depression Affect Appetite?

Changes in appetite are one of the key symptoms we often see in depression, and it can go one of two ways. A significant subset of people with depression report that their appetite gets worse, that they don't feel like they want to eat as much, and when they do eat, they don't make good choices.

But some people report that when they're depressed they actually eat far more, and it's not unusual in people who are depressed to see either significant weight loss of 10 or more pounds or a significant weight gain of 10 or more pounds. So changes in appetite are hugely related to depression, and many times when we're working up a patient to determine whether or not they're depressed, it's one of the first questions we ask.

And unfortunately because many times depression is associated with the sense of not respecting yourself, not valuing yourself, when you finally are at the table, you'll find that the choices that you do make are not as healthy as they could be.