About the disease

Emotional Support

The Psychological Aspects of Obesity

In modern day society, aesthetic values tend to lean ever more to the slim look being one of the outer signs of greater acceptance. Intelligence, dexterity and success, both at school or socially, are qualities attributed to slim people or people whose weight is normal, rather than to obese people.

Obesity exposes people to the consequences of disapproval and affects their education, employment and healthcare. In other words, obesity becomes a form of psychological and moral damage that has not been quantified and which seriously deteriorates the quality of life and creates emotional problems.

The psychological problems of obese people are now seen as a consequence of prejudice, discrimination and the impact of their own perception of slim being beautiful and not as a cause of obesity. Prejudice against obese people may appear early on in life and at all social levels.

People who eat too much in response to certain emotional conditions have learned to relate these conditions to eating. At a certain time, perhaps during their childhood, they found that the best way of celebrating a happy event was to have a large meal, or perhaps they found that they felt better when things were not going so well, or that they found eating a pleasurable experience when they were nervous or bored.

A psychological approach will help patients to look at the habits that have brought about their obesity, instead of focusing their attention on certain food, thus emphasizing the areas of their behavior that have been learned.

About Bariatric Surgery:

Bariatric surgery is now a feasible form of treatment for losing weight. It has two ideal objectives: firstly, to lose weight satisfactorily and consistently, and secondly, to control or relieve the diseases associated with obesity, particularly increase in blood pressure, tolerance to glucose, regulation of lipid concentrations, and a better quality of life.

Including a pre-operation psychological assessment as part of a comprehensive analysis of each patient gives us the opportunity to establish options for pre- and post-operation treatment.

It is important that patients are informed of the operation, the diet to be observed in the short, medium and long term, the potential emotional changes that they may go through, the type of exercises to do, etc.

Surgery is another tool by which patients may satisfactorily lose weight and keep their weight constant for the years to come. Patients must be aware that the surgery is not "magic" and that they will have to be responsible for maintaining a healthy diet and doing exercise.

It is important to know what are the expectations of patients and their family as far as the operation is concerned, and to establish if they are aware of their condition and the risks of the operation, evaluate the secondary benefits of the operation, ensure that patients are willing to undergo the radical change that occurs after the operation, and evaluate the psychopathology that may manifest itself and affect their future treatment.

The most common symptoms are related to anxiety and depression, therefore, if patients have any of these symptoms, then they will need pre and post-operation psychological support.

Treatment

Obesity must be treated in stages, for it does not end when patients have reached their correct weight, but rather when they have changed their daily habits in such a way that they will not put back on the weight lost. Until that happens, patients need to be observed by various specialists (physician, nutriologist, psychologist, etc.). So that patients may continue to undergo the various stages of the treatment. They first need to convince themselves that their diet must be in line with their lifestyle. It is important that patients understand that the diet itself does not solve the problem. They need to understand that in the same way that taking on bad eating habits was something that occurred over the course of time, they also need time to learn new habits, so that they have a balanced diet that is in accordance with their needs.

It is fundamental that patients are encouraged to lose weight. It is not the same if a person wants to lose weight for aesthetic reasons rather than for medical reasons. You also need to know to what extent food and drink, bowel movements, sedentary habits, etc. contribute to maintaining your excess weight, as in order to control your weight you have to control all factors that regulate not only your appetite, but also your excess weight. Obese patients must learn to control their ingestion and their eating habits, social relationships, where and when they eat, activities, etc., and the changes made must be maintained throughout your life.

Advantages of the Clinic:

Psychology

The obesity clinic of the Centro Médico ABC provides psychological support services for patients that so require it, including cognitive behavioral therapy and psycho-educational groups that help patients to change their habits and the behavior that led them to overeating.