By
Viewed
18,438
Please choose the correct answer for each question below:
Questions: 0/128
Correct: 0
Translate:
It's a health condition so dangerous
that it is second only to smoking
as a cause of premature death.
I'm talking about obesity.
But, for our next guest, her staggering weight gain
is only part of a much, much bigger issue.
It breaks my heart.
Going to the grocery store,
just getting her in the car,
"Oh, that's your sister?
"Your sister's so big."
My weight has been a struggle
pretty much all my life.
In kindergarten, I would get made fun of by classmates.
"Fat-so.
"Cubby.
"You should be ashamed of yourself."
I would just cry myself to sleep sometimes.
Just, starting to believe what other people were saying
was the truth.
Around the age of 14, I weighed 190 pounds.
I wanted people to like me,
and so, I would make fun of myself.
"Oh, ha-ha, yeah, I know I need to lose weight."
I so wanted that recognition of somebody liking me.
I really felt like
I shouldn't be taking up any space on earth.
Around my senior year, I weighed 320 pounds.
I had developed arthritis, sleep apnea.
My liver is enlarged.
I have chronic pain.
She is breathing so hard that
I feel like she's gonna have a heart attack.
(gloomy music)
I currently weigh 550 pounds
and I'm five foot, six inches.
I can sense when my sister's having a bad day.
I have a bad habit of stress eating.
She gets her comfort food.
Ice cream, pizza.
And, she goes up to her room and she hides with her food.
Soda, I used to drink
six to seven 12 pack cases a week.
Six to seven 12 pack cases a week.
I'd peek into her car and I can see cases,
and cases, and cases.
She just drinks it constantly.
That's her happy place.
When I go to the binge eating,
I will often not eat for the next day.
Then, it will start all over again, binge eating.
I went into depression.
Haley has tried to take her life a few times.
It's a cry for help.
I just see somebody that has so much potential
that's just screaming to get out.
As Haley began to peel away the layers of her story,
it became clear
that her weight was only the tip of the iceberg.
So, we sent her to Doctor Judy Ho
to get to the bottom of what was really going on.
I believe that many individuals who have body image issues
are plagued also
with the emotional problems that come with that.
Sometimes when people are bullied,
you know, they'll sometimes have symptoms of anxiety
or even depression.
Did that happen to you when you were younger?
Right around the age of 25 or so,
I got to the point where
I was drinking like
six full bottles of hard liquor a week.
I was going to work drunk.
Clients were complaining about me; slurred speech.
So, what did you do then?
I went to AA and that helped quite a bit.
Going from day to day was so hard.
It was a real struggle.
My heart starts racing.
Do you have panic attacks or anything like that?
I've had panic attacks in the past.
If they get severe enough,
it's almost like I black out.
What are some of the things that happen
that make you feel that way.
I ended up getting assaulted.
I was thrown to the ground and choked.
Oh, my goodness.
Definitely, PTSD from that.
Your life was in danger.
I was afraid to go out in public,
be around anybody, especially men.
My clavicle was fractured.
This is a woman who has never felt safe in her life.
How long do you think
some of the post traumatic symptoms lasted?
Almost two years.
Haley came to talk about her overeating,
but there's so much more under the surface
that's driving those behaviors.
Tell me a little bit about how dark the depression has been.
It was just like days where I'm like hiding in a cave.
It's like a black dog follows me around,
digging up all the past.
How many times have you felt that way,
and actually taken some action?
It's been a few times where I've
wanted to actually die.
I actually attempted to;
overdosing on medication, cutting my wrist.
With Haley, one of her main coping mechanisms
is to put on a smiling face
even when describing horrific experiences.
So, when was the last time you tried to commit suicide.
About six months ago, I ended up damaging my liver.
I still go to counseling about every two weeks.
That's good.
This is probably the best I've been feeling
in a long time.
So, seems like your weight is tied up
with all of these other things.
Just being able to try to get the weight off,
because I have so many medical issues now.
I do believe that underneath it all,
Haley has a will to live.
But, this is what I worry about with Haley,
is that she's basically under chronic stress
every single day, trying to hold herself together.
Related Songs