Psychological effects & weight?

Question

I'm 24/female. I had gastric bypass surgery a little over a year ago. I went from 267lbs to 154lbs. Everyone told me I would be so happy, have more energy, want to go out and meet people, and guys would be attracted to me. Now that I am thinner, I am even more isolated. I hardly leave my apartment. I've struggled with depression before the surgery, but I almost feel more upset now and I don't understand why.

What is your opinion? Am I just not trying hard enough?

Answer 1

this may just be that you have not yet found yourself as if you look in the mirror now you are a new person standing there it is a hard thing to deal with and to be honest if you suffer with depression it wont go away just because you have lost weight. you will need to get that treated.

i suffer with depressiojn and have a weight issue adn feel like this all the time.

small little steps is the road to recovery, take each day at a time and try not to rush things, i hope all works out for you in the end.  

Answer 2

The way you did it may have a bad effect on you. But see site  below to see what psychologists have found that makes people happy. Happiness is what you need. Not food.

Answer 3

Hey there,

Well, first of all my heart just goes out to you. I'm proud of you for taking such a big step toward better health. So when I hear "Am I just not trying hard enough"... I think to myself, now there's a girl who is being too hard on herself. Direct some compassion towards yourself. The harder we on on ourselves, the worse the depression/suffering gets.

We've been sold a bill of goods that says if you are this or that, that you will be happy. It's all false. You will never be happy because of your weight, you must learn to be happy in spite of your weight, that is, happiness is utterly independant of your weight. You must do the same internal work to acheive self acceptance, living in the moment as you would have if you were still 267 pounds. You are NOT YOUR WEIGHT. You are so much more!

When we have an expectation that something will finally make us happy (our weight, our financial staus, the car we drive, where we live, the right person we find to love), we are immediately dooped and sabotaged. We seek out these external things to fill an internal need, which if course will never really be fullfilled by any THING outside of ourselves. So having this expectation, then acheiving that which you thought would bring happiness and joy and peace of mine - and learning that it did not, is very frustrating.

But listen, you have a great opporunity to learn this exact lesson from your experience. Consider helping other people cope with the same experience.

Isolation and depression happen, no matter what size you are or what you weigh, or how much money you have, or how pretty you are.

Additionlly, if your outter changes (say to be thinner or "prettier"), your internal psyche is still trapped in the mind of the less than thin or less than "pretty" persona, thinking, and feelings.

Changing this begins with awareness and compassion towards yourself. And don't be afraid to reach out to other people who have shared your experience.

Take care,

Erin