Is there a relationship between relative body weight and clinical depression, suicide ideation and suicide attempts?
It has been shown that there is a direct correlation between malnourishment and the onset of depressive brain chemistries. Anorexia has been called a slow form of suicide, yet I believe that the intention behind the disease is exactly the opposite: the emotional origin of eating disorders is self-preservation; the effort is to survive in a frightening and unpredictable world, to be special and remain strong and secure, not to disappear. The means chosen to accomplish these ends, ironically, are lethal. ED are the most lethal of all the mental health disorders. They kill six to13 percent of victims, 87 percent of whom are under the age of 20, causing internal systems to shut down and electrolyte problems that result in heart failure. Frequently, eating disorders co-occur with mood disorders such as bi-polar disease or major depressive disorder. Many people who suffer with eating disorders are addicts and/or self-mutilators; approximately a third of hospitalized bulimics have suffered se
