[tomhoward]

This is an appalling comment that shows you have little knowledge or interest in physiology, and contempt for people who develop obesity as a symptom or a side-effect of medication for serious illness.

A school-friend of mine, who had been an elite athlete during high school and was as healthy and fit as anybody you'd find, developed schizophrenia during his twenties and needed to be put on strong anti-psychotic medication, which caused dramatic weight gain.

He's continued to need various medications for schizophrenia and anxiety ever since, and despite relentless efforts to keep his weight down with the same kind of exercise and diet that kept him in good shape when he was younger, cannot return to an ideal weight.

The reason for this is to do with the way neurotransmitters and hormones alter metabolism, and it's straightforward to understand with a little research.

The question "How do antidepressants create matter from thin air?" amounts to trolling and doesn't belong on HN in my opinion.

[perl4ever]

"This is an appalling comment that shows you have little knowledge or interest in physiology, and contempt for people who develop obesity as a symptom or a side-effect of medication for serious illness."

I would however, further suggest that not only should we have sympathy for people who have obesity from medication, but those who have obesity without it.

If you take a drug and you perceive God as a result, it is logical to infer that people who perceive God without drugs may be also experiencing something that results from similar brain chemistry.

[tomhoward]

Yep, that's what I intended to convey; sorry if that wasn't clear.

Sometimes it's a side-effect of a drug. Sometimes it's a symptom of other issues in the body/mind.

My point is that people who are obese (to an extent that causes issues like sleep apnoea or other complications) are not that way because they simply choose to be that way, or because they "just eat too much".

People who can easily lose the weight have already done so. Everyone else is stuck with it, for one or more of any number of complex reasons, and outside observers are in no position to pass judgment.