The Mental Health Impact of Food Insecurity
May 19, 2023
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Global food insecurity remains a serious problem. As many as 828 million people around the world aren’t sure where their next meal is coming from, the World Food Programme has said; and who hasn’t seen the heartbreaking images—the human face—of hunger and starvation? What rarely gets talked about, though, are the mental health effects of not knowing when you will eat again, and that research is revealing.What Is “Food Insecurity,” and How Does It Affect Your Mental Health?
Experts define “food insecurity” as inadequate access to sufficient quantity and quality of food due to poverty or other factors. These might be environmental or geopolitical, such as famine, war, or a natural disaster.
Not surprisingly, inadequate access to food can affect mental health, but how? When researchers in the U.S. studied different vulnerable populations, they learned that food insecurity can have the following mental health effects.
Drastically Increased Risks of Anxiety and Depression
A study in 2021 by the Centers for Disease Control found food insecurity increases the risks of anxiety by 257 percent and the risks of depression by 253 percent. As context for these stats, the same study noted that the loss of a job during the pandemic was associated with a 32 percent increase in anxiety and a 27 percent increase in depression. In other words, a person’s risk of developing a mental illness from food insecurity, the study authors wrote, is roughly three times higher than their risk of developing mental illness from the loss of a job.
“Serious Psychological Distress” and Despair
The term “serious psychological distress” came from a 2015 study of Hispanics living in poverty in the U.S. Other research has underlined the profound despair that can result from going hungry, especially when the person is also caring for others. Mothers tend to be more vulnerable to the distress and “trauma” associated with food insecurity, other findings say, for example.
Much Higher Stress, Likelihood of Adverse Health Effects
When some researchers describe what it’s like to live with chronic uncertainty about when and where the next meal will come from, they emphasize the unique and often debilitating stress of that experience. Beyond the psychological distress, there is also often social isolation which further compounds the emotional hardship, experts say. Then there is the stress of constantly having to choose between food on the table and other critical needs.
A lot of stress, especially when it’s chronic, is associated with higher rates of disease. One danger of a high amount of long-term stress is that it increases a person’s vulnerability to medical problems, many of which impact or involve mental health. As illustration, consider the link between workplace stress and health problems. The resulting insomnia or pain and muscle tension can trigger mental health symptoms.
Damage to the Brain and Body from Malnutrition
Research has established that a chronic lack of nutrients can negatively affect every organ in the body. Malnutrition can in fact have serious consequences, leading to diabetes and cardiovascular issues, among still other health problems. When that happens, mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression can also ensue. It is not uncommon for these issues to co-occur with a physical diagnosis.
Compassion fatigue and other challenges can hamstring efforts to address food insecurity in meaningful ways. The mental health impact of this global crisis is one more compelling reason to keep trying.
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