In approximately 20-30% of obese patients who have failed to reduce their weight in different clinics, develop depression and other mental disorders. However, clear evidence that obese patients are more likely than people of normal weight, having mental or emotional disturbance (when sampled in the population), does not exist.
Women with mental disorders are more common than obesity than men. Perhaps this is due to the pressure of public opinion, directing women to be slim. Some behavioral abnormalities may contribute to obesity.
Bulimia, ie use large quantities of food in a short period of time, usually accompanied by a feeling of loss of control and guilt. This diagnosis can be made in case of repetition of such episodes at least twice a month for 6 months or more, while eating is not accompanied by the subsequent use of laxatives to prevent weight gain.
About 10-15% of people with obesity, bulimia suffer, while in the population, the figure is 2%. Patients with this disease, which are included in the program for weight loss, usually carry more weight and less amenable to treatment than those patients with obesity who have these conditions are absent. Pharmacological and behavioral correction of this disorder may reduce the number of binge eating, but, oddly, often does not lead to weight loss.
Another deviation, the so-called syndrome of nocturnal eating, also linked to obesity, but is less common than bulimia. Eating more food in the evening leads to a later bedtime, frequent nocturnal awakenings, usually accompanied by food intake, and morning anorexia.
