Question of the day….

Here’s my thought for the day:

Why is it that people that have eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia have alternatives when it comes to addressing their health/mental issues…and funding is available for said alternatives?  Why is it that people look at someone that has one of these issues and thinks/says “oh that poor person has a problem?”

And people who have addiction whether it be to alcohol or drugs or nicotine or sex have options and alternatives when it comes to addressing their health/mental issues…and funding is available for said alternatives? Why is it that people look at someone that has one of these issues and thinks/says “oh that poor person has a problem?”

Yet obesity is still not considered an issue worthy of funded alternatives?

Obesity is not caused by laziness.

It’s often caused by a lack of knowledge, (the proper foods to eat and the proper way to prepare them or the lack of finances for same) by mental health issues, by repression of past occurrences and is a type of addiction, by depression….but there are very few alternatives and almost none of them are funded…

Yet people see an obese person and they think “slovenly, lazy, stupid” Do they not think we don’t know what they think? Their jokes are insulting “oh…you are so jolly” “oh you have such a pretty face” “oh you are such a nice person”

I’m not trying to pussify the world…this is not another “oh poor little me” everyone take pity on me”- I’m not asking for special dispensation…I know exactly how I got here…and I also recognized that I need help

If I was a smoker the government would provide me with alternatives to be able to quit. If I was an alcoholic or a junkie or a sex addict there would be sponsored and funded opportunities to learn life skills and psychological support to assist in overcoming an addiction.

If I had cancer – would I need to pay for my own treatment?

As an obesity patient in Canada I feel very lucky that there is a program that I have become and involved in that allowed me to have the surgery to lose weight but nobody ever addresses the reasons that I became obese…nobody asks for or helps with developing an understanding from a psychological standpoint how I got to the position I’m in. Not even the program psychiatrist I was involved with for months did.

The shame and stigma around obesity (even if it was just in my own head – and it’s not…trust me) would keep me from ever feeling good about myself even having had the surgery because it will cost me personally thousands of dollars to have further surgery to correct the way I look after I lose weight. And there is no psychological support in this country without the the fees coming out of my pocket.  So I can now eat properly, exercise my ass off and get healthy as I can – but I’m still going to have many of the issues that are inherit with huge weight loss and excess skin issues.

This is not me whining…..this is me trying to understand why someone who sticks their finger down their throat and throws up every time they eat has more available resources than I do?

Was my rape/abuse less than? has my physical health not been taken into consideration? Why do I have to pay for counselling when other addicts of what other nature have funded programs/resources/opportunities to assist them?  I’m a walking talking heat rash with all this skin and it only stands to get worse…why do I have to fund raise to have the surgery to fix it?

I don’t get it.

Seriously – the very next person that suggests that I should have just exercised more and ate less or that I took the easy way out is gonna get a smack down…nothing about this is easy – and surgery is not a cakewalk.

Surgery only addresses part of the problem – a great part and I’m not complaining – but it is only a part of the big picture.

 

About Wyzwmn

old cranky good pal
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