Does Treating Depression Help With Weight Loss?


This is the Medscape Psychiatry Minute. I'm Dr. Peter Yellowlees.

Depression is associated with increased risk for obesity and worse weight loss treatment outcomes. Now a team of investigators from the University of Massachusetts Medical School have tested the hypothesis that delivering evidence-based behavioral therapy for depression before a lifestyle weight loss intervention should improve both weight loss and depression.

In a randomized controlled trial, 161 obese women with major depressive disorder were randomly assigned to brief behavioral therapy for depression followed by a lifestyle intervention, or to a lifestyle intervention only. Follow-up occurred at 6 and 12 months, with the main outcome measures being weight loss and depression symptoms.

The investigators found that adding behavioral therapy to a lifestyle intervention resulted in greater depression remission but did not improve weight loss at 1 year. Across both groups, they did note that improvement in depression was associated with greater weight loss. Although much more research is needed into the relationship between depression and obesity, as clinicians we should be actively treating our depressed obese patients in the knowledge that helping their depression will make their weight loss attempts more successful.

This article is selected from Medscape Best Evidence. I'm Dr. Peter Yellowlees.