Overweight Depression

Do you remember the saddest moment of your life? Imagine having to live the rest of your life feeling sad and miserable. Depression.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for weeks or longer. Everyone experiences a time of depression, even you. However, there are some that live all their life with this condition because of their weight.

  In today's society people judge themselves off of who and what they see in the media. There is a huge societal pressure to be thin, and when an obese person is bombarded with these thoughts and images of celebrities, it may end up depressing them. Obese people tend to be very self conscious of their appearance, and that spills over to low self esteem and also opens the door for unfair self examination.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are also bullies who make fun of fat people and thinner people who will mock an obese person. Many of this bullying is based on stereotypes.

Being obese may seem just physically, but it has a major social impact. If a person is shy or scared to socialize because they are obese, that loneliness is going to cause depression. That lack of self-confidence is going to make it even harder to socialize, and the vicious cycle continues.  

According to Dr. Stephen Iiardi, author of The Depression Cure, social isolation is a huge risk factor for the onset of major depression, which has more than doubled over the past decade. This usually occurs with obese people because they feel their appearance makes them stand out.
 

Many are discriminated against, stereotyped, and judged for being their size. Imagine being the only obese person in the class. You get picked on everyday, and no one wants to speak to you or be your friend. I'm pretty sure once you leave this class, you will still be affected, and more likely not want to be around many others. This may be the case for some obese people, leading them into isolation.

No matter how you feel, or how others feel about you, being obese definitely has a link to depression. With media leading our thoughts on self-image, being obese can make someone hate the way they look. Also, those who bully the obese can cause them to isolate themselves from social activity. Both of these factors aid to depression. If you or you know anyone who is suffering through obesity or depression, you should seek help immediately.

The Fatherless Daughter

After 17 years of dial tones and empty inboxes, Walter Rand finally decided to step into my life.  It was the thoughts of a fatherless daughter that caused me to refuse the offer.

When I came to the United States I was only four years old.  My intermediate family consisted of my mother, brother, and father.  These early years are faint to me, but I do remember doing everything together as a family, such as going to theme parks or the beach.  In the eyes of a child, my family was perfect.



However, my parent's relationship was unstable.  Later on in life I found out how emotionally and physically abusive it was and it may seem a little one-sided, but it was mainly because of my father.  He wanted this "perfect" family to be an exact replica of his imagination: the beautiful and skinny mother-like wife, the athletic handsome son, and the innocent pure daughter.  Contrarily, my mother was very independent, my brother was a home-bodied gamer, and I was the tom-boy risk taker.



It was a year later when I noticed the packed bags by the door, the empty shelves, and the damp tissues, that my father, Walter Rand, was leaving.  After long days of playing in mud puddles with the neighborhood boys my dad would always tell me "I need my little princess Kayla back, if she wants to keep her Da-Da."  Of course I would ignore the true meaning of this, but the day he left, I finally understood what I was told.



The following months I threw out all my tennis shoes and action figures and began asking for dolls and makeup.  I started playing with girls in my class and even wearing dresses with bows.  Da-Da's little princess was back, but where was he?



To me, the worst feeling in the world isn't not knowing who your father is, but to know who he is, and that he knows you exist, but chooses not to be in your life.  Having a child is a blessing, and I guess in Walter's eyes I was in disguise.



May 12, 2010, I get a phone call.  It was him, Walter.  Nearly 12 years without speaking to him, I could barley recognize his voice.
"I'm having twin girls, and I wanted to know if you would come see them.  You know, to be a family, and I can finally be the dad I always wanted to be."  Excuse my language...but WHAT THE HELL?  After all those years of not seeing him and anger building up, there were no words to express my emotions.  The only thing I could do, was hang up.



Now, 15 years after my family being broken up, I am a Jr. at Ga State University, in Atlanta, Ga. All of my accomplishments were made without the help of Walter Rand, and it was the thoughts of a fatherless daughter that made me the little princess queen I am today.