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Depression & Weight Gain: Connection & Management

Published: February 22, 2023 Updated: March 3, 2023
Published: 02/22/2023 Updated: 03/03/2023
Headshot of Meagan Turner, MA, APC, NCC
Written by:

Meagan Turner

MA, APC, NCC
Headshot of Naveed Saleh, MD, MS
Reviewed by:

Naveed Saleh

MD, MS
  • What Is Depression?Depression
  • Can Depression Cause Weight Gain?Weight Gain
  • Depression & Weight Gain: ConnectionsConnections
  • Can Antidepressants Cause Weight Gain?Antidepressants
  • Ways to Manage Depression-related Weight Gain7 Tips
  • How Therapy Can Help With Depression-related Weight GainHow Therapy Can Help
  • Final Thoughts on Depression & Weight GainConclusion
  • Additional ResourcesResources
  • Depression & Weight Gain InfographicsInfographics
Headshot of Meagan Turner, MA, APC, NCC
Written by:

Meagan Turner

MA, APC, NCC
Headshot of Naveed Saleh, MD, MS
Reviewed by:

Naveed Saleh

MD, MS

Depression can trigger weight gain or weight loss. There are several contributing factors to depression and weight gain, such as eating more comfort foods and decreased physical activity and exercise. Most people who experience depression feel more tired than they used to and have less motivation to engage in things they once enjoyed.

Find a supportive therapist who can help with depression. BetterHelp has over 20,000 licensed therapists who provide convenient and affordable online therapy. BetterHelp starts at $60 per week. Complete a brief questionnaire and get matched with the right therapist for you.

Choosing Therapy partners with leading mental health companies and is compensated for marketing by BetterHelp

Visit BetterHelp

What Is Depression?

Depression stems from a low mood and feeling of sadness and hopelessness. It can come with feelings of tiredness, focusing on the negative, and thoughts of self-harm. Depression is marked by a chronic sense of low feeling even during a period of high anxiety.

Can Depression Cause Weight Gain?

Both weight gain and weight loss can be depression symptoms. It’s unclear how common it is for depression to cause weight gain, as some studies indicate that depression is a predictor of obesity, but others show no such association.1

Depression in women and teen depression both see increased rates of weight gain, although there is no clear cause. Depression in men may present as weight gain as a result of depression, but they seem to be no more likely to have an increased BMI in the long-term, regardless of whether they have ever experienced depression.

Age, sex, and education all may play a role in whether you gain weight as a symptom of depression, but it does not seem that race or ethnicity are correlated with weight gain. The type of depression you experience may also be connected.

Depression & Weight Gain: Connections

Depression and weight gain have a lot of connections, including fatigue, loss of motivation, emotional eating, and inflammation.

Here are ways depression and weight gain are connected:

  • Loss of motivation: fatigue and difficulty finding pleasure in activities you used to enjoy contribute significantly to lack of motivation. When you have no motivation, you’re more likely to turn down social plans, stay home, and stay in a state of rest.
  • Elevated levels of cortisol: depression is associated with elevated cortisol, which promotes fat accumulation2
  • Emotional eating: eating habits often change in light of emotional eating, which is often impulsive and helps ease in-the-moment feelings of sadness
  • Slowing down: when you’re feeling down, your body might physically slow down. Slower movements or a slower walking pace can mean less physical activity throughout the day, keeping those emotional calories in your body.
  • Inflammation: chronic stress caused by depression can lead to cellular inflammation, hormonal changes, and accumulation of fat2,3
  • Social changes: depression often leads to decreased self-esteem and therefore less likelihood of seeing people you love or doing activities together
  • Poor sleep: poor sleep is one of the leading causes of weight gain, and insomnia is a depression symptom1
  • Lifestyle changes: you may be less apt to wake up early to exercise, have less energy to walk the dog, or give up gardening when the heaviness of depression sinks in. These changes in your daily routine can add up to weight gained as a result of inactivity.
  • Diet cycles: if you find that you do tend to gain weight from depression or antidepressants, then you might find your eating habits in a never-ending cycle of trying to lose weight by dieting. Diets typically fail in the long-term and can be self-defeating.4
  • Increased hunger: leptin, a hormone that regulates hunger, can increase during periods of depression, resulting in increased food intake and calories that can easily lead to depression-induced weight gain3
  • Craving carbs: carbohydrates (like pizza, pasta, donuts) can increase your serotonin levels.5
    When you feel down, your body looks to increase serotonin, which could mean eating more than your normal portion of carbs and lead to weight gain.

Can Antidepressants Cause Weight Gain?

In the short term of 6 months or less, antidepressants are not likely to cause weight gain.6 Long-term use of antidepressants and weight gain has been poorly studied, but the data suggest a statistically significant increase in weight.7 Different classes of antidepressants are more likely to cause weight gain than others.

If your medication is lifting your depression, some doctors may choose to prescribe an additional medication such as an amphetamine or Wellbutrin to combat the adverse effect of weight gain. It is unclear what the mechanism of weight gain is and whether the medication for depression itself causes weight gain, or if food cravings, lifestyle changes, or increased appetite lead to increased weight.

Help For Depression

Talk Therapy – Get help from a licensed therapist. Betterhelp offers online therapy starting at $60 per week. Get matched With A Therapist


Virtual Psychiatry – Get help from a real doctor that takes your insurance. Talkiatry offers medication management and online visits with top-rated psychiatrists. Take the online assessment and have your first appointment within a week. Free Assessment

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7 Ways to Manage Depression-related Weight Gain

There are several ways to try and mediate depression weight gain, including changing medications, reducing stress, and managing your routines differently. Some weight gain may just be an effect of your medication for depression; discuss the pros and cons of being on your current medication with your doctor.

Here are seven ways to manage depression weight gain:

  1. Adjusting medication doses: sometimes the dosage you’re on just isn’t working quite right for you. Different people require different dosages to get the intended effects. Have that conversation with your doctor.
  2. Switching drugs: not all antidepressants are associated with weight gain; some are even associated with weight loss. If you think there’s a correlation between your weight gain and the medication you’re on for depression, discuss other options with your doctor.
  3. Eating healthy foods: while it is not a panacea of depression treatment, a healthier diet such as the Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower risk of depression. Given that healthier foods are often lacking in inflammatory ingredients, this could also lessen your body’s tendency to pack on weight when you’re depressed.8
  4. Eating more mindfully: eating mindfully helps your body slow down and process the food, including helping your mind to consider the quality of the food and experience in order to increase satisfaction without necessarily increasing food intake.4
  5. Increasing exercise: mental health benefits of exercise help reduce depressive symptoms in adolescents and adults; it can also contribute to weight loss9,10,11
  6. Working with a dietician: a dietician can help you to manage caloric intake and nutrition, supplementing other steps to keep your depression weight in check
  7. Augmenting medications: antidepressants can be augmented with atypical antidepressant medications (e.g., Wellbutrin) to curb weight gain.12 Supplementing with a binge-eating medication such as Vyvanse may also be an option to discuss with your doctor.13

How Therapy Can Help With Depression-related Weight Gain

Therapy can help you cope with depression symptoms, including weight gain. While there are many different depression treatments available, they may not all be right for you. Many therapists will incorporate several types of treatment vs. just one, which can be a helpful way to figure out what works best for you.

One of the most effective therapies for depression is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It can help you to create new beliefs about yourself and implement corresponding behaviors to combat depression and weight gain. Behavioral activation, one strategy in CBT, can help you identify ways to get your body moving that increase meaning in your life and may lead to pleasurable feelings.

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), another type of depression therapy, can also help you weigh your values to decide which symptoms and adverse effects feel bearable and which ones you’d like to change. All of these therapies can help introduce you to healthy ways to cope with changes your body may make while you’re feeling depressed, including weight gain, increased fatigue, or lower self-esteem.

How to Find a Therapist

Explore an online therapist directory in order to get help from a therapist who is licensed in your state and competent to work with you to battle the symptoms of depression. To make sure you’re getting someone who is a good fit for you, take a look at what they are trained to treat, what treatments they use, and how they can help you to set goals in therapy.

Final Thoughts on Depression & Weight Gain

Weight gain can be an unsettling and annoying symptom of depression. There are ways to lessen depressive symptoms, leading to less weight gain, as well as strategies to help you think about yourself and your changing body in healthy ways.

Additional Resources

Education is just the first step on our path to improved mental health and emotional wellness. To help our readers take the next step in their journey, Choosing Therapy has partnered with leaders in mental health and wellness. Choosing Therapy may be compensated for marketing by the companies mentioned below.

Talk Therapy 

Online-Therapy.com – Get support and guidance from a licensed therapist. Online-Therapy.com provides 45 minute weekly video sessions and unlimited text messaging with your therapist for only $64/week. Get Started

Online Psychiatry

Hims / Hers – If you’re living with anxiety or depression, finding the right medication match may make all the difference. Get FDA approved medication prescribed by your dedicated Hims / Hers Healthcare Provider and delivered right to your door. Plans start at $25 per month (first month). Get Started

Depression Newsletter

A free newsletter from Choosing Therapy for those impacted by depression. Get helpful tips and the latest information. Sign Up

Learn Anti-Stress & Relaxation Techniques

Mindfulness.com – Change your life by practicing mindfulness. In a few minutes a day, you can start developing mindfulness and meditation skills. Free Trial

Choosing Therapy Directory 

You can search for therapists by specialty,  experience, insurance, or price, and location. Find a therapist today.

Choosing Therapy partners with leading mental health companies and is compensated for marketing by Online-Therapy, Hims / Hers, and Mindfulness.com

For Further Reading

  • 21 Books on Depression: Helpful Resources for When You Feel Depressed
  • National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
  • Crisis Text Line
  • Anxiety & Depression Association of American (ADAA)

Depression & Weight Gain Infographics

Can Depression Cause Weight Gain? Can Antidepressants Cause Weight Gain? Ways to Manage Depression Weight Gain

13 sources

Choosing Therapy strives to provide our readers with mental health content that is accurate and actionable. We have high standards for what can be cited within our articles. Acceptable sources include government agencies, universities and colleges, scholarly journals, industry and professional associations, and other high-integrity sources of mental health journalism. Learn more by reviewing our full editorial policy.

  • Faith, M. S., Butryn, M., Wadden, T. A., Fabricatore, A., Nguyen, A. M., & Heymsfield, S. B. (2011). Evidence for prospective associations among depression and obesity in population-based studies. Obesity Reviews: An Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 12(5), e438–e453. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2010.00843.x

  • Vogelzangs, N., Kritchevsky, S. B., Beekman, A. T., Newman, A. B., Satterfield, S., Simonsick, E. M., Yaffe, K., Harris, T. B., & Penninx, B. W. (2008). Depressive symptoms and change in abdominal obesity in older persons. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65(12), 1386–1393. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.65.12.1386

  • Blasco, B. V., García-Jiménez, J., Bodoano, I., & Gutiérrez-Rojas, L. (2020). Obesity and depression: Its prevalence and influence as a prognostic factor: A systematic review. Psychiatry Investigation, 17(8), 715–724. https://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2020.0099

  • Farkas, H. (2019). 8 Keys to End Emotional Eating. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393712322

  • Tamara Ventura, T., Santander, J., Torres, R., & Contreras, A.M. (2014). Neurobiologic basis of craving for carbohydrates. Nutrition, 30(2), 252-256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2013.06.010.

  • Fava M. (2000). Weight gain and antidepressants. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 61 Suppl 11, 37–41.

  • Gafoor, R., Booth, H.P., Gulliford, M.C. (2018). Antidepressant utilisation and incidence of weight gain during 10 year’ follow-up. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 361(8154), k1951-2. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k1951

  • Molendijk, M., Molero, P., Sánchez-Pedreño, F.O., Van der Does, W., Martínez-González, M.A. (2018). Diet quality and depression risk: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies. Journal of Affective Disorders, 226, 346-354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.09.022.

  • Wang, X., Cai, Z. D., Jiang, W. T., Fang, Y. Y., Sun, W. X., & Wang, X. (2022). Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of exercise on depression in adolescents. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 16(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-022-00453-2

  • Cooney, G., Dwan, K., Mead, G. (2014). Exercise for depression. JAMA, 311(23). 2432–2433. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.4930 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24938566/

  • Cox C. E. (2017). Role of physical activity for weight loss and weight maintenance. Diabetes Spectrum: A Publication of the American Diabetes Association, 30(3), 157–160. https://doi.org/10.2337/ds17-0013

  • Alonso-Pedrero, L., Bes-Rastrollo, M., & Marti, A. (2019). Effects of antidepressant and antipsychotic use on weight gain: A systematic review. Obesity Reviews: An Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 20(12), 1680–1690. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12934

  • McElroy SL, Hudson J, Ferreira-Cornwell MC, et al. (2016). Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate for adults with moderate to severe binge eating disorder: Results of two pivotal phase 3 randomized controlled trials. Neuropsychopharmacology, 41(5), 1251-1260.

update history

We regularly update the articles on ChoosingTherapy.com to ensure we continue to reflect scientific consensus on the topics we cover, to incorporate new research into our articles, and to better answer our audience’s questions. When our content undergoes a significant revision, we summarize the changes that were made and the date on which they occurred. We also record the authors and medical reviewers who contributed to previous versions of the article. Read more about our editorial policies here.

  • Originally Published: June 29, 2022
    Original Author: Meagan Turner, MA, APC, NCC
    Original Reviewer: Naveed Saleh, MD, MS

  • Updated: February 22, 2023
    Author: No Change
    Reviewer: No Change
    Primary Changes: Updated for readability and clarity. Reviewed and added relevant resources. Added “What Is Depression?”. New material written by Silvi Saxena, MBA, MSW, LSW, CCTP, OSW-C and reviewed by Kristen Fuller, MD.

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Headshot of Meagan Turner, MA, APC, NCC
Written by:

Meagan Turner

MA, APC, NCC
Headshot of Naveed Saleh, MD, MS
Reviewed by:

Naveed Saleh

MD, MS
  • What Is Depression?Depression
  • Can Depression Cause Weight Gain?Weight Gain
  • Depression & Weight Gain: ConnectionsConnections
  • Can Antidepressants Cause Weight Gain?Antidepressants
  • Ways to Manage Depression-related Weight Gain7 Tips
  • How Therapy Can Help With Depression-related Weight GainHow Therapy Can Help
  • Final Thoughts on Depression & Weight GainConclusion
  • Additional ResourcesResources
  • Depression & Weight Gain InfographicsInfographics
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