The relationship between severe mental illness and obesity.

In recent years, there has been an increase in obesity in the general population in both adults and children. Certain mental disorders have been found to co-occur with overweight and obesity. These include binge-eating disorder and bulimia nervosa (nonpurging type), bipolar disorder, certain forms of major depressive disorder, and some severe, chronic mental illness (ie, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder). At the same time, some studies have also found that obesity co-occurs with certain mental disorders--specifically binge-eating disorder and mood disorders in females. The co-occurrence of psychiatric disorders (ie, mood and psychotic disorders), binge eating, and overweight or obesity has important public health implications for the treatment of patients with mental disorders, especially since many psychotropic agents can have adverse effects on appetite, binge eating, and weight. Physicians need to keep 2 key points in mind: 1) The treatment of mental disorders in patients with obesity may be different from the treatment of such patients who are not obese, and 2) The treatment of obesity that co-occurs with psychopathology may be different from obesity that is not comorbid with psychopathology.