Why do we blame morbidly obese people but not depressed people for their condition?

I should ask though, do you mean that obese people should be treated with more understand, or people with mental problems with less?

Why must the two be so different? Look at my post which cites a few papers that indicate a correlation between obesity and depression.

A recent study by Dr. R. Lusting and other academics concluded that an increased intake of sucrose above all other sugar types (fructose, lactose etc) essentially bypasses leptin production (the hormone which inhibits appetite), thus inducing people into a state of not feeling as full as they should. I believe they also found in a contemporary study that the biochemicals at work caused the consumption of sucrose to be addictive, therefore promoting a vicious cycle of overeating.

It should be said that Lustig is currently alone in his hypothesis at present but the point I am making is to not simply write off fat people as being fat because they have eaten too much. This same assumption was made not long ago about people suffering from depression because we simply did not understand the biochemicals at work which caused the condition to occur.

I am not trying to be definitive here and state that obesity is down to a purely biochemical reaction and the specific types of nutrients a person can consume. However, in the same way, I am asking you and everyone else on this thread who thinks fat people are fat because they eat too much to not come at the issue with so much conviction either. There is a lot we don't know about obesity and depression and there is no way we are even close to an answer for either, yet.

Neither, necessarily. I'm just pointing out that all things like this have a physiological or material basis and if we claim that one is out of the person's control, then we have to admit that so is the other. I think that focusing a lot on personal responsibility is usually the right way to go, and we shouldn't be afraid of taking this route with often transient or circumstance-responsive conditions such as [severe] depression.

I didn't mean to sound as though I was writing them off as all lazy slobs. I believe for many people who are overweight it could possible be a result of different mental issues such as low self esteem and looking to food for comfort. But this cause of their eating is distinct from the reason they are overweight, which is because they ate a lot.

I wholly accept the possibility a lot of might be down to as of yet undiscovered mental and chemical reasons however. But I think there has to be an acknowledgement that some people ARE overweight simply because they overeat because they enjoy certain foods.

.....No one, should be exempt from criticism

If the condition is serious enough I think that would be a wise sort of outlook to take, in the case of obesity.
But how about this, the threat to the life of someone who is overweight compared to someone who is depressed? Although being overweight carries various serious healthproblems, many of these are at least some years into the future. Whereas the depressed person, given certain circumstances, could be engaging on selfharming and suicidal behaviour on a delay basis. In terms of treatment I'd day one is more in urgent need of care than the other, but both as deserving.

1. Both are considered to be the result of psychological issues/conditions
2. Both are debilitating to someone's health, relationships, and career.
3. Both may be caused by or exacerbated by personal behavior.
4. Those who suffer from both these conditions are likely to be a burden on family/friend/loved ones and society.

I didn't mean to sound as though I was writing them off as all lazy slobs. I believe for many people who are overweight it could possible be a result of different mental issues such as low self esteem and looking to food for comfort. But this cause of their eating is distinct from the reason they are overweight, which is because they ate a lot.

I wholly accept the possibility a lot of might be down to as of yet undiscovered mental and chemical reasons however. But I think there has to be an acknowledgement that some people ARE overweight simply because they overeat because they enjoy certain foods.

Glad you said this because you're 100% ignorant, incorrect and unqualified to comment on depression and how it should be percieved. What basis do have for saying depression is self inflicted? Have you published any journals, thesis' or research papers that I can read to verify this?

I didn't think so

Loads of medications/drugs (legal and illegal) cause depression/suicidal thoughts. Of course depression can have at least an element of self-causation.

You could argue that CBT works only in that it prevents people from causing their own depression.

The obviousness of these counter arguments really begs the question, are you actually that well qualified to be lecturing people on depression and telling them they're 100% wrong?

(do your own pubmed search if you want to read the many hundreds of papers that support what I say)

I assume you are aware there are people who are depressed having never touched a single narcotic in their life, no?

There seems to me to be an aweful lot of ignorance on this thread. I may only be 20 but when I was younger I suffered from both annorexia and obesity, and I can assure you that neither of those was down to simply overeating or undereating, and was not a case of even enjoying or hating food.

People cope with things in different ways. When depressed some people lock themselves away, some cut, some stop eating and some stuff their faces. But for some reason our society has this strange view on food, that you can eat whatever you like, and so long as you don't get fat people are fine with it. Obese people get dehumanised and ridiculous views like 'they should just stop eating' for some inconceivable reason become valid and legit.
Not ok

There seems to me to be an awful lot of ignorance on this thread. I may only be 20 but when I was younger I suffered from both anorexia and obesity, and I can assure you that neither of those was down to simply overeating or undereating, and was not a case of even enjoying or hating food.

People cope with things in different ways. When depressed some people lock themselves away, some cut, some stop eating and some stuff their faces. But for some reason our society has this strange view on food, that you can eat whatever you like, and so long as you don't get fat people are fine with it. Obese people get dehumanised and ridiculous views like 'they should just stop eating' for some inconceivable reason become valid and legit.
Not ok

Everyone eats, not everyone gets fat...?

Because obesity indicates an addiction, we don't like addictions. This is because we have a Christian-based morality where following your urges and getting quick satisfaction is seen as very bad.

Depression doesn't indicate an addiction.

Good point :-)

I also think they're blamed because of the increased number of obese people in recent years. If it was these hormones and chemicals in the brain, then there would be a steady number throughout the years.

There are examples of people who rose up and defeated depression through willpower as well.

Depression isn't caused by an "imbalance of chemicals in the brain" (a ridiculously oversimplified concept anyway, btw). It is an "imbalance of chemicals in the brain."
So we should sensibly try to work out what causes that state. Why people get into it and can't get out. And that comes from factors that, at one point, were pretty much in their control.

The equivalent would be to say that obesity is caused by having a really high bodyfat %. But, no, that's simply what it IS, and the cause of that is very complex. Being intentionaly dense and limiting our investigation to "they have no willpower lol, y they eat so much y?!"
If some people can be happy most of the time, we wonder why others can't and should think about that. If some people can naturally regulate their body composition usually without worrying too much about what they eat, we should wonder why others can't.

We're given the over-simplistic idea that you get fat when you "eat too much", and that this is entirely within our control. No mention is made of the extremely complex matter of appetite regulation, changes in metabolism and nutrient partitioning (i.e. where the stuff you eat ends up in your body), motivation to exercise, and so on. It's supposedly just a simple calories in vs. calories out model and thinking about it any deeper is discouraged. It's seen as pointless and in poor taste to delve deeper and we're comfortable with fatness being hilarious and something to poke fun at.

DEPRESSION, on the other hand, is sooooo complicated (chemicals in the brain, man. Chemicals in the brain) that it's offensive to even try to look at the reasons for it. We can't possibly understand it and it's absolutely wrong to think that external influences (which the patient can control to some extent) could be involved. It's all just a terrible accident and we can drug the ****ers up and feel sorry for them. Maybe prescribe an hour of fatty mocking to cheer them up.