Mental health & obesity: What clinicians need to know with Dr. Sanjeev Sockalingam

🎙️This episode is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Eli Lilly Canada.

When conversations about obesity focus only on food, movement, or medications, something essential gets missed. Mental health is not an add-on in obesity care. It’s foundational.

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Sanjeev Sockalingam, psychiatrist, researcher, Scientific Director of Obesity Canada, and co-author of the mental health chapter of the Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines.

We discuss how mental health intersects with obesity across the lifespan, and why addressing depression, anxiety, trauma, disordered eating, sleep, and weight bias is essential to providing compassionate, evidence-based care. Dr. Sockalingam shares practical insights clinicians can apply in everyday practice to strengthen patient relationships, reduce stigma, and support long-term health.

Guest

Dr. Sanjeev Sockalingam
Dr. Sanjeev Sockalingam is the Scientific Director of Obesity Canada and a psychiatrist, researcher, and educator specializing in the mental health aspects of obesity care. He is Senior Vice President, Education and Chief Medical Officer at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Sockalingam’s work focuses on psychosocial outcomes in obesity treatment and advancing evidence-based mental health care within multidisciplinary obesity management.

Show Notes

In this episode:

Why mental health matters in obesity care: How psychological health is both a driver and complication of obesity, and why it must be integrated into assessment and treatment.
Recognizing and reducing weight bias in care: Where stigma shows up in clinical conversations and systems, and how language and validation can reshape patient experience.
Practical strategies for real-world practice: Simple, time-efficient ways to screen for mental health concerns, address disordered eating, and support patients beyond lifestyle-only advice.
What treatment can and can’t do on its own: How medications may influence appetite and eating behaviours, and when additional psychological support is essential.

Additional resources

Research: The Cost of Inaction in Treating Obesity
Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines
Learn more about the intersection of sleep & obesity in episode 13 with Dr. Michael Mak
Free courses:

📣 Register for the Canadian Obesity Summit 2026

Obesity Canada’s flagship scientific congress returns March 25–29, 2026 in Montréal. Join researchers, healthcare professionals, policy leaders, and people with lived experience for five days of learning, collaboration, and community—centered on this year’s theme: obesity across the lifespan, connecting research to real-world care.

Registration is open now and tickets are already selling fast.

Register today: https://utm.guru/ujsc1

🎧 Season one finale

This episode marks the final episode of season one of Scale Up Your Practice. Thank you for listening and being part of this first season of the podcast. We’ll be back after a short break with season two in 2026, bringing more conversations to support compassionate, evidence-based obesity care.

Enjoying the podcast?

Support Scale Up Your Practice by:

Sharing this episode with a colleague or team member
Subscribing on your favourite podcast platform
Leaving a review to help more listeners find the show

📩 Have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover?

Email us at scaleuppod@obesitycanada.ca

Tools for better care, delivered to your inbox.

Be the first to know about new education and resources for healthcare professionals from Obesity Canada.