Policy Approaches to Obesity and Co-Occurring Mental Disorders

The discussion centers on how obesity is intricately linked with chronic mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It examines the challenges in treatment due to overlapping symptoms, societal stigma, and policy implications. The analysis highlights the importance of a holistic approach that integrates physical and mental health care, emphasizing preventive strategies and comprehensive management plans. Evidence-based guidelines from organizations like NICE provide crucial insights into effective obesity prevention and management. Moreover, it underscores the significance of addressing internalized weight stigma and fostering collaborative efforts among healthcare providers to enhance patient outcomes.

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH
Public Health
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Part1
BOOKS
Corrigan, P.W., Torres, A., Lara, J.L., Sheehan, L. and Larson, J.E., 2017. The healthcare
needs of Latinos with serious mental illness and the potential of peer
navigators. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services
Research, 44(4), pp.547-557.
This book mainly talks about the usefulness of person-centered treatment for the mentally
ill patients. It talks about the harshness through which the patients with mental illness often have
to pass during the period of their mental illness. As soon as they are diagnosed with any mental
disorder they are often stigmatized in their society. Society and even the doctors often declare
them incompetent and start treating them with cruelty and a cold attitude. This book mainly
focuses on the usefulness of person-centered care. In other words, the patients suffering from
chronic mental disorder need care and emotional support and not only medical support. Doctors
and the other health care staffs must know that just prescribing the patients with medicines must
not be the main goal of their treatment rather they must make the patient conformable with
interpersonal skills (Widhalm and Prager 2014). Doctors must put forward their efforts to make
the patients self-determined and self-confident. They must give positive hopes to the patients so
that they never feel depressed and never give up.
Widhalm, K. and Prager, G. eds., 2014. Morbid Obesity in Adolescents: Conservative
Treatment and Surgical Approaches. Springer.
This book mainly aims at dealing with the concept of morbid obesity that is one of the
common problems in most of the adolescents today. The only possible treatment that is

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suggested by the Doctors is surgery. However, no long-term cure and the postoperative therapies
have been established. Another important aspect that the doctors have to focus upon is the
psychological effect that the patients often have to suffer through. The doctors must make sure
that none of their actions are hurting the emotions of the patients. There has to be the
multidisciplinary approach in order to treat the obesity. The book mainly deals with the analysis
of the obesity-related diseases are along with the kind of psychological effect this might have on
the patients.
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Rosenbaum, N., Tinney, D.M. and Tohen, M., 2017. Collaboration to Reduce Tragedy and
Improve Outcomes: Law Enforcement, Psychiatry, and People Living With Mental
Illness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 174(6), pp.513-517.
The main attempt of this journal was to show that patients with acute mental illness can
be cured with proper care and support. Emotional support is often much more helpful than the
support rendered by medicines. This idea was conveyed through the example of a homeless man
called by the name the street corner saint (Rosenbaum et al 2017). Initially, he was thought to be
dangerous for kids and was arrested by police but was found incompetent to respond to the trial.
He started responding to the treatment when the police forces and the psychiatrists provided him
help and emotional support.
Anestis, M.D., Anestis, J.C., Zawilinski, L.L., Hopkins, T.A. and Lilienfeld, S.O., 2014.
Equine‐related treatments for mental disorders lack empirical support: A systematic
review of empirical investigations. Journal of clinical psychology, 70(12), pp.1115-1132.

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This journal mainly talks about the new kind of treatment that can be used to treat some
mental disorders including autism (Brook et al 2015). This treatment mainly involves the
interactions between the patients and the horses. However, this method of treatment is not
popularized yet as there is not much evidence supporting the usefulness of this treatment
procedure (Anesti et al 2014).
Gordon, M., Baker, P., Catchpole, K., Darbyshire, D. and Schocken, D., 2015. Devising a
consensus definition and framework for non-technical skills in healthcare to support
educational design: A modified Delphi study. Medical teacher, 37(6), pp.572-577.
This journal talks about the usefulness of nontechnical skills in health care system.
Nontechnical skills are the interpersonal skills that are very much essential and must be used by
the doctors, nurses and the other healthcare staffs. The nontechnical skills are the skills of
leadership, understanding, and mutual respect. Communication is a very important skill that must
be developed and maintained by all the healthcare staffs so that they can communicate with the
patients and develop a feeling of trust and respect for a long-term basis (Gordon et al 2015).
Poku, M.K., Behkami, N.A. and Bates, D.W., 2017. Patient Relationship Management:
What the US Healthcare System Can Learn from Other Industries. Journal of general
internal medicine, 32(1), pp.101-104.
This journal mainly emphasizes on the fact that one of essential steps that must be
followed by the doctors in the treatment procedure is maintaining a good relationship with the
patients. The doctors must know and use their interpersonal skills in such a way so that they can
make their patients comfortable with them and can win over their trust in the long run (Poku et al

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2017). The healthcare staffs must start using the PRM tool or the patient relationship
management tool as an important aspect of their treatment processes.
Fani, L., Bak, S., Delhanty, P., Van Rossum, E.F.C. and Van Den Akker, E.L.T., 2014. The
melanocortin-4 receptor as a target for obesity treatment: a systematic review of emerging
pharmacological therapeutic options. International journal of obesity, 38(2), pp.163-169.
This journal emphasizes the fact that obesity is the greatest health challenge that people
are facing in the 21st century. Often the treatment is also not very effective because the treatment
is very effective because regulating and maintain the body weight is a very complicated process.
There are not much pharmacological obesity treatment options. One of the acute obesity
disorders is the deficiency of the MC4R. Patients suffering from this condition often find it
difficult to respond to any kind of treatment (Fani et al 2014). Hence, efforts are to be made to
find out more and advanced treatment procedures for this condition.
WEBSITES
Nice.org.uk. 2017. Obesity prevention | Guidance and guidelines | NICE. [online] Available
at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg43/chapter/1-guidance [Accessed 14 Nov. 2017].
In order to treat obesity people can also try out some natural methods as well. Before
approaching any clinic for help they can try out home remedies; like undertaking some physical
exercises and some that can act as fat cutters (Dr. Axe 2017). For instance, they can have high
fiber food, lean proteins, coconut, green coffee extracts. They must start avoiding oily food and
restore to the consumption of healthy food.

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Rosario, C. 2017. What's The Best Way To Treat Obesity? New Guidelines Show The Way To
Lose Weight. [online] Medical Daily. Available at: http://www.medicaldaily.com/whats-
best-way-treat-obesity-new-guidelines-show-way-lose-weight-263035 [Accessed 13 Nov.
2017].
The first approach to the patients suffering from obesity must be treating obesity as a
disease. Though obesity itself is not a life taking disease it can cause much another chronic
disease like high blood pressure and hypertension that can slowly become very much harmful.
Hence, the first important steps that the patients must take are to undertake exercise and start
eating a healthy diet (Rosario 2017).
ELECTRONIC DATABASES
Ulijaszek, S.J. and McLennan, A.K., 2016. Framing obesity in UK policy from the Blair
years, 1997–2015: the persistence of individualistic approaches despite overwhelming
evidence of societal and economic factors, and the need for collective responsibility. Obesity
Reviews, 17(5), pp.397-411.
This database mainly talks about how society often stigmatizes the mentally disabled
people. As soon as someone is diagnosed with mental illness it greatly affects his social relations
because society starts treating him as someone different from the normal group of people and
often abandons him (Ulijaszek and McLennan 2016). This greatly affects the mentally ill patient
and he loses his self-confidence. It must be the duty of the society to render emotional support to
the patient and help him to restore normalcy rather than marginalizing him.

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Ratcliffe, D. and Ellison, N., 2015. Obesity and internalized weight stigma: A formulation
model for an emerging psychological problem. Behavioural and cognitive
psychotherapy, 43(2), pp.239-252.
Overweight or obesity is often treated as a stigma in the society. Overweight people are
often abandoned by the society and are isolated and abandoned by them. They have to face
discrimination at their school, colleges, and work fields and often in their homes as well
(Ratcliffe and Ellison 2015). This constant discrimination and marginalization create a negative
impact on their self-perception and they often go into periods of acute depression.
USEFUL ORGANIZATIONS
Young Minds
The United Kingdom,
Address: Baden Place, Baden Pl, London SE1 1YW, UK
Working hours: 9AM–5PM
Phone: [phone]
It is one of the important organizations that deal with the mental disorders of the young
people. The main motive of this institute is to render emotional help and support to the teenagers
and the young adults suffering from mental disorders (Brook et al 2015). They carry on several
campaigns in schools in order to make the students, teachers and also the parents aware of the
mental illnesses that may arise from study related matters or even from bullying. They also

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provide preventive measures against online bully as well. They recommend the patients with the
preventive steps like a discussion with an adult family member or taking help from police and
many other such options.
The London Obesity Clinic
Address: 10 Harley St, Marylebone, London W1G 9PF, UK
Working Hours: 9:30AM–7PM
Phone: [phone]
This institute mainly aims at treating patients with obesity disorder. This is one of the
best institutes because it provides totally personalized care to the patients keeping in mind that
they are not emotionally hurt. It works with a highly experienced team, comprising of the Special
psychotherapists so that the patients can undergo special counseling sessions as well.

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STATISTICAL DATA
Service available during mental illness treatment
Source: (mental health.2014)

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Causes of mental illness
Source: (mentalhealth.2014)

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U.K’s adult obesity Data
Source: (kingsfund.2015)

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Child Obesity in U.K
(Source: theguardian.2015)
Part2
Introduction
One of the very important aspects that need to be taken care of while treating the mental
issue is the role of ethics. In other words, ethics and culture play a major role in the treatment of
patients. It must be the duty of the Government of the respective countries to spend enough
money in order to properly train the doctors regarding the necessary rules that they must follow
while carrying on the treatment of any mentally ill patients. This topic indeed is very important
one that needs considerable focus because there are several instances in which the patients are
ill-treated owing to their mental disorders or any other medical conditions (Rosenbaum et al
2017).
Discussion
One of the major issues that are faced by the majority of the population in the present day
scenario is mental illness. This issue of mental illness is found among all the individuals
irrespective of their age. However, the reasons behind the mental illness are many and varied. A
large-scale research and experiments are being carried on all over the world in order to find
proper means of treating patients with mental disorder. This is because mental different mental
diseases are of different nature and have different reasons behind their happenings. Hence, it is
always prudent from the doctors to analyze the exact causes of the mental disorder. This is