While differences in weight-gain potential exist, both between and within classes of psychiatry medications, most commonly used atypical antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and antidepressants result in some degree of weight gain. This is not new information and it requires an understanding of the tolerability profiles of different treatments and their goodness of fit with specific patient phenotypes. However, this iatrogenic association represents only a piece of this obesity-mental illness dyad. The complex interplay between psychiatric illness and weight involves neurobiology, psychology, and sociological factors. Parsing the salient variables in people with mental illness is an urgent need insofar as mortality from physical health causes is the most common cause of premature mortality in people with chronic mental illness. Our review examines issues associated with common chronic mental illnesses that may underlie this association and warrant further study if we hope to clinically intervene to control this life-threatening comorbidity. W W WBien que les différences de potentiel de gain de poids existent, à la fois entre les classes de médicaments psychiatriques et au sein de celles-ci, les antipsychotiques atypiques, les psychorégulateurs et les antidépresseurs les plus fréquemment utilisés entraînent à un certain degré une prise de poids. Cette information n'a rien de neuf et elle demande une compréhension des profils de tolérabilité de différents traitements et de leur qualité d'ajustement aux phénotypes spécifiques du patient. Cependant, cette association iatrogène ne représente qu'une pièce de ce tandem obésité-maladie mentale. L'action réciproque complexe entre la maladie psychiatrique et le poids met en jeu la neurobiologie, la psychologie et les facteurs sociologiques. L'analyse des variables prépondérantes chez les personnes souffrant de maladie mentale est un besoin urgent pour autant que la mortalité attribuable à des causes de santé physique est la cause la plus commune de mortalité prématurée chez les personnes souffrant de maladie mentale chronique. Notre étude examine les questions associées aux maladies mentales chroniques communes qui peuvent sous-tendre cette association et justifient plus de recherche si nous souhaitons intervenir cliniquement pour contrôler cette comorbidité qui met la vie en danger.

Obesity is associated with early mortality and has overtaken smoking as the health problem with the greatest impact on quality of life, mortality, and morbidity. Despite public health initiatives and numerous commercial enterprises focusing on weight loss, obesity rates continue to rise. In part, this is because obesity is a multifaceted, complex illness, impacted by numerous social, psychological, and behavioural factors that are unrecognized in most current initiatives. One significant factor associated with obesity is mental illness. While having a psychiatric illness does not make weight gain inevitable, it does often require that additional tools be added to lifestyle recommendations around diet and exercise. The following article reviews the common approaches to obesity management and addresses how these strategies can be implemented in psychiatric care. It is important that health professionals involved in the care of people with a mental illness become familiar with the interventions available to control and treat the obesity epidemic, as this will improve treatment compliance and ultimately lead to improved physical and psychological outcomes.

Reported perceptions and personal experiences of intimidation within the psychiatric learning environment in Edmonton are low.