How Very Sad.

GertrudeHorse

I think it's legitimate to wonder how the circumstances outlined in the article come to pass but the piece doesn't address what support if any was available to the poor man. I would like to know more about the differences between normal obesity and super obesity as I remain to be convinced that the two are linked.

I do not think he got much in the way of support. It appears he simply became a recluse and disappeared off the radar once he did. That seems to be the basis for a lot of the comments on the article...where was his support and why are those who reach this point, not given the same sort of services as those with other eating disorders.

That's a very good point. You hear about anorexia and bulimia sufferers getting various forms of support and treatment both physical and psychological but I've never heard of obese or morbidly obese people getting that level of care on the NHS.

I think anorexia and bulimia are at least given the credence of being a disorder or disease whereas the morbidly obese are just treated as fat and lazy. This may not be the case but it certainly comes across that way. I have honestly never heard of an overweight person being offered counselling or treatment (just gastric band after a certain weight).

I agree. I also think a lot of that societal judgement of fat people (e.g. lazy, gross, dumb, greedy, etc) provides a barrier to getting help. In any event, what happened to this individual is very sad and upsetting. It is clear they had some sort of mental illness and were attempting to self-medicate through food. It's very tragic he didn't get the necessary help before it was too late.

Slacker16

You know, I know someone IRL who is on the exact same road this guy was on (no, not me).

Constantly over-eating to self-medicate depression... and the bigger he got the more depressed he was. He became a shut-in at the age of 20. I haven't really kept in touch, but last I heard he couldn't stand on his feet for more than 30 mins (doctor's orders).

Hadn't thought of him in years.

Bammitssamm

But that is exactly my point. There is thousands of people who destroy themselves via some kind of abuse. The only difference is, this one used food. No different from heroin, cocaine or anything else. Whatever his problem was, he wasnt able to deal with it himself. Now you can play a psychologist and talk about this for ages. But in reality the only way to solve anything like this is to take a person like this, forcefully put him into a special institute where he gets forced to deal with it to >>forcefully<< show him how life of a healthy person feels like(because he actually doesnt even know). Now, ask an average person if he agrees with forced treatment like this and if it is moral. And still, if you ask a healthy person who was fat if he ever went back no one will say yes. But a fat person will tell you its his life, even tho he doesnt know the other side or how it would be. Am i gonna pity a person who destroys his life with some kind of abuse? No. And I am also not going to pretend some moral high ground by saying how sad it is and how its a problem of society. Yes it is problem of society, but only because this kind of "addiction denial" is allowed. Addict wont admit problem. So force him to at least try the other side of coin or let him kill himself and then cry because its sad and you think we should do something about it... Well there is a cycle for you to think about. Or do you have some magic solution? A free call line that gives advice...? Well i dont know you tell me.

You can't force anyone to do anything. Both my parents were addicts, unfortunately I got stuck with an extremely addictive personality. When I was younger, I was addicted off of pills until I was in the hospital. When I realized that was bad, I started shopping until I was flat out broke. It continues on and on. I even used food as a "filler" when I couldn't do drugs or I couldn't shop or whatnot and I gained lots of weight because of it. Luckily I never fell into anything too terrible and now i'm replacing food, shopping, drugs ect with exercise and work. Addiction is a serious problem, and I find myself lucky to catch myself falling into it but others aren't as lucky and they have to be dealt with a different way. I really do not believe he had the support he needed, and it's a lot easier for someone in that state to just continue with their lifestyle as opposed to actually changing it by themselves.

So in other words, do your research, have an open mind and be more compassionate. You just sound like an ignorant jerk.