When I prepare materials for the blog, I often come across various curious or even outrageous statements about vegetarianism. One of them, a very persistent one, is that the World Health Organization (WHO) has allegedly recognized vegetarianism as a mental disorder... And when I was even written about it in the comments, I couldn't resist and decided to do a little investigation: where did this "news" come from and how does it relate to reality. So, what I found out.
The news sounds something like this: "The World Health Organization (WHO) has expanded the list of mental illnesses that require immediate intervention by a psychiatrist. It adds vegetarianism and raw eating (sic! I spell it correctly. - Y.K.), which are included into the classification of mental disorders in the group F63.8 (other addiction and addiction disorders)".
This statement has nothing to do with reality, as anyone can easily verify by visiting the WHO website. Let's look at the classification of diseases published by the World Health Organization called the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10) - WHO Version. I'm looking at the current version, ICD-10, Version 2016. There is no vegetarianism under F63.8 or any other number. But here's what is:
"F63.8. Other behavioral and impulsive disorders. This category applies to other kinds of persistently repetitive maladaptive behaviors that are not secondary to recognized psychiatric syndromes and in which one can think of a recurrent inability to resist craving for certain behaviors. There is a prodromal period of tension with a sense of relief at the performance of the appropriate action." (Honestly, this description reminds me a lot of... sugar addiction and sugar cravings symptoms =) .
I can't find any mention on the WHO website of a link between vegetarianism and mental disorders. Moreover, there have been denials of this news from officials of the organization. For example, Tatyana Kolpakova, a representative of the WHO regional office in Russia, told Voice of Russia about this gossip: "This is absolutely untrue.
Why a representative of Russia and Voice of Russia? Perhaps because it was in Runet that this news was actively disseminated (or maybe it originally appeared - I can't say for sure).
Finally, let's pay attention to the sources of the news. They are few and untrustworthy. For example, the above quote is from a site called supersyroed.mybb.ru, which, like many other disseminators, referred to news on resources like neva24.ru and fognews.ru. Yes, don't bother opening these links: they no longer exist. No such information can be found on these sites today. And, more importantly, you will not find this sensational news on sites that are more trustworthy, such as major news agencies.
The peak of distribution of materials about inclusion of vegetarianism in the list of mental disorders was in 2012 (the quoted news is dated March 20, 2012). And now it's been a few years - and waves of this absurd and disproved "fact" still appear here and there. Too bad!
It happens that the reason for these rumors is (un)intentional distortion of true information. So at the same time I decided to find out what science really knows about the potential connection between vegetarianism and mental health. I refer to the publication in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity from June 7, 2012 (that is, already after the first "reports" of F63.8), whose authors summarized many of the findings and conducted their study in Germany. The title of the article is "Vegetarian diet and mental disorders: results from a representative community survey".
Here is the authors' conclusion: "In Western cultures, a vegetarian diet is associated with an increased risk of mental illness. However, there is no evidence for a causal role of vegetarianism in the etiology of mental disorder."
Let me tell you a little bit more about what I learned from this study. Its authors identify three potential types of relationship between the vegetarian diet and mental health.
The first type of relationship is biological. It has to do with deficiencies in certain nutrients that can be caused by vegetarianism. "On a biological level, nutritional status as a result of a vegetarian diet can affect neuronal function and synaptic plasticity in the brain, which in turn affects processes relevant to the onset and maintenance of mental disorders. For example, there is strong evidence that long-chain omega-3 fatty acids causally affect the risk of major depressive disorder. In addition, although the evidence is less conclusive, vitamin B12 levels are causally linked to major depressive disorder. Studies have found that vegetarians show lower tissue concentrations of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B12, which may increase their risk of major depressive disorder." The scientists' conclusion: in this case, switching to vegetarianism may precede the onset of psychiatric disorders.
What can I say to this? It's probably a good idea to make your diet more balanced.
Further, the second type of connection that scientists talk about is based on persistent psychological characteristics. They influence both the choice of a vegetarian diet and the development of mental disorders. In this case, vegetarianism is not associated with the development of a mental disorder.
Finally, the third type of relationship: the development of mental disorders that increase the likelihood of choosing a vegetarian diet. In this case, the onset of a mental disorder will precede the transition to vegetarianism. Although, the scientists clarify, published findings on this type of connection are lacking. My understanding is that perhaps a person with a disorder that makes them overly anxious about their habits or animal suffering tends to choose restrictive diets, including vegetarianism.
That said, the study notes the possibility of not only a negative but also a positive relationship between vegetarianism and mental health: "Thus, some psychological and socio-demographic characteristics of vegetarians, such as a negative way of self-definition (meaning defining yourself through what you don't do. - Y.K.), can have a detrimental effect on mental health, while other characteristics, such as a healthy lifestyle and ethical motivation, can have a positive effect."
You must be logged in to post a comment.