The Weary Christian
  • Depression
    • Depression

      STUDY: Awe can reduce depressive symptoms

      Depression

      STUDY: How music-mindfulness can help depression, anxiety

      Depression

      STUDY: Chronic pain associated with higher rates of…

      Depression

      STUDY: Eating citrus fruits can reduce risk of…

      Depression

      STUDY: Lycopene can help ease depressive symptoms in…

  • Anxiety
    • Anxiety

      STUDY: Awe can reduce depressive symptoms

      Anxiety

      STUDY: How music-mindfulness can help depression, anxiety

      Anxiety

      STUDY: Chronic pain associated with higher rates of…

      Anxiety

      NEW STUDY: How the brain unlearns fear

      Anxiety

      STUDY: Stressed mice adopt anorexia-like behaviors

  • Book quotes/Video
    • Book quotes/Video

      Your verse for today

      Book quotes/Video

      Keller: On Peter and identity

      Book quotes/Video

      Voskamp: It’s all about where you look

      Book quotes/Video

      “Remember Me”

      Book quotes/Video

      Jacques Philippe: “How should I live my life…

  • Health News
    • Health News

      STUDY: Awe can reduce depressive symptoms

      Health News

      STUDY: How music-mindfulness can help depression, anxiety

      Health News

      STUDY: Chronic pain associated with higher rates of…

      Health News

      STUDY: Eating citrus fruits can reduce risk of…

      Health News

      Study: Why so many disorders are linked

  • Interviews
    • Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Dr. Terry Powell’s gripping account of depression

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Therapist Michael Schiferl explains religious scrupulosity and…

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Rocker Matt Sassano shares battles, urges transparency…

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Dr. Brian Briscoe tells Christians that antidepressants…

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Pastor Scott Sauls on anxiety, depression, and…

  • Devotionals
    • Devotionals

      Defeated by God

      Devotionals

      Am I a faithless Christian?

      Devotionals

      Think you’re a “failure?” Jesus sees you unlike…

      Devotionals

      “I killed Jesus of Nazareth”

      Devotionals

      What “Commitment” means (it’s hard, but Jesus hold…

  • About
  • Depression
    • Depression

      STUDY: Awe can reduce depressive symptoms

      Depression

      STUDY: How music-mindfulness can help depression, anxiety

      Depression

      STUDY: Chronic pain associated with higher rates of…

      Depression

      STUDY: Eating citrus fruits can reduce risk of…

      Depression

      STUDY: Lycopene can help ease depressive symptoms in…

  • Anxiety
    • Anxiety

      STUDY: Awe can reduce depressive symptoms

      Anxiety

      STUDY: How music-mindfulness can help depression, anxiety

      Anxiety

      STUDY: Chronic pain associated with higher rates of…

      Anxiety

      NEW STUDY: How the brain unlearns fear

      Anxiety

      STUDY: Stressed mice adopt anorexia-like behaviors

  • Book quotes/Video
    • Book quotes/Video

      Your verse for today

      Book quotes/Video

      Keller: On Peter and identity

      Book quotes/Video

      Voskamp: It’s all about where you look

      Book quotes/Video

      “Remember Me”

      Book quotes/Video

      Jacques Philippe: “How should I live my life…

  • Health News
    • Health News

      STUDY: Awe can reduce depressive symptoms

      Health News

      STUDY: How music-mindfulness can help depression, anxiety

      Health News

      STUDY: Chronic pain associated with higher rates of…

      Health News

      STUDY: Eating citrus fruits can reduce risk of…

      Health News

      Study: Why so many disorders are linked

  • Interviews
    • Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Dr. Terry Powell’s gripping account of depression

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Therapist Michael Schiferl explains religious scrupulosity and…

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Rocker Matt Sassano shares battles, urges transparency…

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Dr. Brian Briscoe tells Christians that antidepressants…

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Pastor Scott Sauls on anxiety, depression, and…

  • Devotionals
    • Devotionals

      Defeated by God

      Devotionals

      Am I a faithless Christian?

      Devotionals

      Think you’re a “failure?” Jesus sees you unlike…

      Devotionals

      “I killed Jesus of Nazareth”

      Devotionals

      What “Commitment” means (it’s hard, but Jesus hold…

  • About

The Weary Christian

THE WEARY CHRISTIAN

LIVING WITH FAITH AND DEPRESSION

  • Depression
    • Depression

      STUDY: Awe can reduce depressive symptoms

      Depression

      STUDY: How music-mindfulness can help depression, anxiety

      Depression

      STUDY: Chronic pain associated with higher rates of…

      Depression

      STUDY: Eating citrus fruits can reduce risk of…

      Depression

      STUDY: Lycopene can help ease depressive symptoms in…

  • Anxiety
    • Anxiety

      STUDY: Awe can reduce depressive symptoms

      Anxiety

      STUDY: How music-mindfulness can help depression, anxiety

      Anxiety

      STUDY: Chronic pain associated with higher rates of…

      Anxiety

      NEW STUDY: How the brain unlearns fear

      Anxiety

      STUDY: Stressed mice adopt anorexia-like behaviors

  • Book quotes/Video
    • Book quotes/Video

      Your verse for today

      Book quotes/Video

      Keller: On Peter and identity

      Book quotes/Video

      Voskamp: It’s all about where you look

      Book quotes/Video

      “Remember Me”

      Book quotes/Video

      Jacques Philippe: “How should I live my life…

  • Health News
    • Health News

      STUDY: Awe can reduce depressive symptoms

      Health News

      STUDY: How music-mindfulness can help depression, anxiety

      Health News

      STUDY: Chronic pain associated with higher rates of…

      Health News

      STUDY: Eating citrus fruits can reduce risk of…

      Health News

      Study: Why so many disorders are linked

  • Interviews
    • Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Dr. Terry Powell’s gripping account of depression

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Therapist Michael Schiferl explains religious scrupulosity and…

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Rocker Matt Sassano shares battles, urges transparency…

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Dr. Brian Briscoe tells Christians that antidepressants…

      Interviews

      INTERVIEW: Pastor Scott Sauls on anxiety, depression, and…

  • Devotionals
    • Devotionals

      Defeated by God

      Devotionals

      Am I a faithless Christian?

      Devotionals

      Think you’re a “failure?” Jesus sees you unlike…

      Devotionals

      “I killed Jesus of Nazareth”

      Devotionals

      What “Commitment” means (it’s hard, but Jesus hold…

  • About
STUDY: Stressed mice adopt anorexia-like behaviors
AnxietyHealth NewsOther Mental Battles

STUDY: Stressed mice adopt anorexia-like behaviors

written by Christian Heinze January 21, 2025

A new study in Neuron, conducted by Harvard researchers, showed that anxious mice restricted food or even starved themselves to help reduce symptoms of anxiety, mimicking classic behaviors in anorexia nervosa.

The study suggests a biological basis for why extreme anxiety can lead to caloric restriction, and I’d invite you to either read the study for the whole scoop or Amy McDermott’s briefer recap here.

But basically, the science involves the hunger circuitry of the brain which includes AgRP neurons.

When those neurons were stimulated, mice ate more and suddenly grew bolder (in contrast with anxious mice) and started to “wander into unsheltered areas or walk across shock grids to forage.”

The study is valuable because it provides both a mouse and the beginnings of a biological-model for a phenomenon well-known in clinical practice – stress can lead to caloric deprivation.

The authors note that human patients with anorexia nervosa will describe self-starvation as “pleasant, potentially because food restriction can be anxiolytic.”

In other words, sometimes patients with anorexia nervosa will restrict – not just because of body image, although that might be part of the equation – but also because restriction involves some kind of relief from the extreme stress they’re experiencing.

And that makes sense, doesn’t it.

I don’t know about you, but for me, throughout life, during moments of extreme duress, food doesn’t just become a second thought, it also becomes somewhat repulsive because stress can rob me of appetite.

Of course, that’s not true for everyone. At all. Many people eat more heavily under extreme stress, as a way of coping.

But regardless, it seems that stress serves as the impetus for one behavior or the other.

Thus, it sort of logically follows that treating anxiety might be one way of getting at the eating disorder.

Of course, that’s a very simplistic solution to an enormously challenging disease. And an enormously deadly one.

Anorexia nervosa is the most deadly mental disorder, and it should be noted that 55-97% of its victims also suffer from other mood disorders such as major depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, personality disorders and others.

Up to 20% of those with the disorder will pass away from complications related to the disease within 20 years.

Of those complications, suicide remains the leading cause of early mortality.

It’s also common for cardiovascular issues, directly tied to anorexia, to threaten victims. As the heart shrinks from starvation, a host of complications occur that can lead to early death.

Gastrointestinal disorders are also common (also associated with starvation’s effects), as are endocrine disorders.

In short, this is a disease that wreaks havoc on a victim’s mind and body, making it one of the hardest to treat and most tragic. We can’t necessarily see depression or anxiety on a face (many of us are good at masking it), but the effect of an eating disorder is obvious.

Finally, here are some resources on eating disorders:

Eating Disorder Hope’s website, which offers a terrific overview of the condition, statistics, and research.

The National Institute of Mental Health on eating disorders, including signs, symptoms, risk factors, treatments and help.

A 24/7 hotline for those struggling with eating disorders or any other mental health disorder.

Six Common Types of Eating Disorders.

Signs of an Eating Disorder.

And find an eating disorder therapist near you.

Also, remember, that this study is further proof that stress responses can lead to anorexia-like behavior, as well as the condition itself. Thus, with other mood disorders presenting so frequently with anorexia, I’ll include my usual links for those disorders.

For readers from the United States….

Find a psychiatrist here.

Find a therapist here.

For readers, internationally, seek help from a local resource.

For salvation, Christ and Christ alone.

May the Lord bless you, dear friends.

[Photo: Pexels, free photos]

0
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Christian Heinze

Christian Heinze is a former writer for The Hill and editor of The Weary Christian.

Social Media

Twitter

Get in touch with me

Contact here. 

The Weary Christian mission:

First off:

 

In the United States, find a psychiatrist here.

In the United States, find a therapist here.

If you’re in the United States and having thoughts of harming yourself or others, please call the National Suicide Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

If you’re in the UK, get urgent help here.

Canada, here.

Australia, here.

New Zealand, here.

South Africa, here.

France, here.

Germany, here.

Portugal, here.

Mexico, here.

India, here.

The Philippines, here.

Singapore, here.

South Korea, here.

 

The Weary Christian goal…

 

a) reduce the stigma surrounding depression, anxiety, OCD, and other conditions in the Christian community.

 

b) have uncomfortable but honest conversations.

 

c) Reduce the stigma surrounding antidepressants, antipsychotics, and other meds God has given us as gifts.

 

And…

 

d) Sometimes (tons of times), we all feel really, really depressed in our journey. Hopefully, this site makes you feel less alone.

Categories


@2017 - PenciDesign. All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by PenciDesign