:: Obesity Documentary Made Me Angry ::

[CONS]

Firstly i dont want to come across as un-sympathetic or patrinising but during this rant its going to be tricky.

Now i didn't see the WHOLE documentary as i was sitting outside having a cigarrete, but what pricked my ears up was hearing this " Mr ?????? only gets £150/180 in benefits a week and his CARE WORKER visits him twice a week ". So lets call it £170 for the hell of it, this guy gets £680 a month as well as his personal nurse.

*sighs*

Now then for those who dont know i have PTSD, general and social anx and panic disorder, been this way for 5 years and i get *starts a drumroll* £460 a month and thats both my benefits combined.

Can someone PLEASE explain to me why this guy with obesity gets 1 to 1 treatmeant/care and £120 a month more than me?, which for the sake of argument against my 5 years is £7,200 pounds extra?, even though that breaks down to £40 extra a week, that could pay for my taxi to therapy as well as other things.

I looked hard for some facts about obesity as i heard only 1 in 100 people actually have pertuity gland or thryoid problems (this was second hand info), this is what i found:

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Does something wrong with the thyroid glands lead to obesity?


Hypothyroidism or an under active thyroid occurs when your thyroid gland doesn't make enough thyroid hormones. This slows down your body's metabolism, leading to symptoms such as tiredness and putting on weight. You may also have swelling of the thyroid gland in your neck. This is called a goiter. Hypothyroidism usually develops gradually. The symptoms are mild and you may not even notice them at first. Occasionally, hypothyroidism gets better without treatment.

In general, however, the symptoms get progressively worse if it isn't treated and it becomes more and more difficult to function normally. Just for further information, some medicines can affect the normal functioning of the thyroid gland. These include lithium carbonate,for bipolar disorder, and amiodarone for heart rhythm problems. Iodine deficiency in the diet is the leading cause of hypothyroidism worldwide. Hypothyroidism can be diagnosed by monitoring the levels of TSH and thyroid hormones in your blood. My sister has Hashimoto's thyroiditis which is the most common type of autoimmune hypothyroidism. It can make the thyroid gland swell up, feel sluggish all the time, and gain weight.


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Thought that answered the question in a proper manner so i leave it at that.

How do the beneifts offices differentiate the amount someone needs to live on based on my illness/disorders VS the guy on TV?

Sorry for the rant but it got my back up, i do sympathise with obesity and understand the implications due to mortality, im not ignorant, to be honest im just kinda pi$$ed off.

More facts on obesity are listed below from a BBC website:


Obesity: Facts behind the fiction


All the drama-documentaries in the IF series are based on rigorous journalism and research, here's a few facts about obesity and its effect on the health of the UK.
70% of men and 63% of women in the UK are overweight or obese. (Source: Royal College of Physicians/Faculty of Public Health)

Cases of obesity in the UK have tripled over the last 20 years. By 2020, at least one third of adults, one fifth of boys and one third of girls will be obese. (Source: Royal College of Physicians/Faculty of Public Health)</I>

Obesity reduces life expectancy on average by nine years. (Source: UK National Audit Office, 2001)

Obesity accounts for 30,000 deaths a year in the UK. (Source: UK National Audit Office, 2001)

Obesity costs the British economy over &#163;2bn every year. (Source: UK National Audit Office, 2001)

In 2001, we ate 2bn meals from fast food restaurants in the UK. (Source: Chief Medical Officer, Annual report 2002)

For each additional can of fizzy (sugar-sweetened) drink that a child consumes every day their risk of obesity increases by 60%. (Source: The Lancet)

The combined annual marketing spend of Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola is $2.2bn.
(Source: Tim Lang, professor of Food Policy at City University)
One in five children in Britain eat no fruit at all. (Source: National Diet and Nutrition Survey)

One in three Americans born in 2000 will develop diabetes. (Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention)

There are only 13 specialist obesity surgeons in the UK and only 10 specialist obesity surgery centres. (Source: National Obesity Forum)

[dawny]

i do agree with what you are saying, im not knocking someone for there illness but the fact that the benefit money is paid at different rates.

i gave up on trying to get sickness benefit, because although i explained that i was agrophobic etc....they wanted to interview me....at the time i couldn't go....so i just thought why bother......

dawny xxxxx

[ladybird64]

I know that you have said that you didn't hear the whole documentary so perhaps there is a medical or genetic cause for the obesity?

Just a thought.

Just decided to edit this and play devil's advocate. I do understand what you mean about the different rates of benefits but there will always be comparisons between different illnesses, it's just the way the "system" works.
I'm assuming that this guy has multiple (physical) health problems connected with his obesity and that is the reason he receives a higher rate of benefit.
I know that there are many who will say that it is a self-inflicted illness/disability and everyone is entitled to their opinion, I would say that things are not always as clear cut as they appear.

[CONS]

Agreed ladybrid,

thats why i tried sit on the fence as much as possible, was trying compare it in terms of debilitating as best i could but was tricky to word. I editied it several times.

Dawny i find it disgusting that agoraphobic sufferers dont have government people come to them for help with benefits.

CONS

[CONS]

Your entitled to your opinion but the benefits in my view are biased and unfair towards people with disorders and anxieties.

I have to pay to travel for so many aspects of care, i need extra money for that but dont get help, i have to pay for the help with the money i get to live on.

Pigs in the trough?

Unfair and uncalled for, ive read 2 posts about agorphobics being denied benefits, 1 because he/she couldnt attend for obvious reasons and 1 bcuz the person did attend and was deemed well enough not to get it.

The documentary made me think and made me angry,

my ex complained of low back problems (which she didnt have) and got high rate mobility and a new car.

I get lower,

CONS

[pinkpiglet]

Please, do not get me started! i may never stop!
I have to say that since i did not see the documentary myself i really cannot comment but i do think that there is something perculiar about how the benefits system allocate their monies. My friend has chrones disease and suffers really badly. She has really terrible bouts where she cannot leave the house and has had to have time off work, she has to attend the hospital regularly for treatment and it affects all aspects of her life. She is only entitled to a very small amount of benefits (and i mean very small). She has no choice but to go out and work and is lucky that she has an understanding manager. Then, on the other hand i know other people who have no problems with screwing the system. One person in particular, niether she nor her partner works, they have three kids, they are on every benefit available and they go on several foreign holidays a year. They have a beautiful council house which they bought several years ago and did up to an excellent standard. They have no mortgage (don't ask!). They get money for their two youngest kids to go to daycare (even though they don't work). They lead a very active lifestyle??? I think it stinks! It is happening all over the country. The government are blind to what is going on.
I think that for obese people to have help with diet regimes and fitness is fairly acceptable but to be in reciept of such vast benefits it a mockery.
I really see where you are coming from mate.

[CONS]

The documentary was used purely as an example of the way benefits are awarded.

sorry to hear about your freind pinkpiglet (fair play to her manager) and yes i know people who milk the system with NO illness whatsoever, how do i know? because i KNOW THEM.

CONS

[nanny]

I have recently lost my dad with terminal cancer, what did he get a week............................. £67 now thats what i call unfair.

I get sick benefit but i am genuinely unwell, not a scrounger, and i have to have a medical every year. I agree the benefit people get is different, some get mobility added to theres etc thus giving them more.

Trouble is you can't fight the system however angry you feel or however unfair it is.

[CONS]

Sorry to hear of your loss nanny,

i agree about not being able to fight the system.

CONS

[diane07]

Oh now you've got me on my soapbox.

What i hate about the so called system, is how i have to watch all my elderly clients to struggle to live, and having worked all their lives because in their day there were no benefits, they get an absolute pittance.

So basically the system will pay for you if you have never worked and have children.
But they will not pay if you have worked all your life, you get put in a care home and have to sell your house to pay for it.

Makes my blood boil.

And how on earth do they think that &#163;67 a week is appropriate to someone dying of cancer......... What a damn disgrace.