Research You Can use to Get Better

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to suffer with multiple problems, diseases and relational conflicts while others ride through life on easy street as if on a cloud of grace? Why does this happen? There are, I think, many reasons but one reason is due to the adversity they suffered as kids seems to just hang around forever.

For example, some folks out in La Jolla, California who run a health care HMO decided that being severely overweight was a real problem because it leads to many diseases and that is bad because the HMO has to pay for the doctor visits, hospital stays and medicines. One thing is sure about an Insurance Company, they want to save money.

What would you do if you wanted to reduce the medical costs associated with obesity? I would sponsor a program that helped people lose weight. Voila! The Kaiser Permanente HMO did just that, and it began to work. The program helped a lot of people lose weight. Each person came because they were unhappy with their weight and how they looked so they followed the diet and the exercise and wow, the weight began to come off.

So, what is the problem? It was this. The most successful people in losing weight dropped out! What? Why? It doesn't make sense that successful people would quit a free program that helped them achieve their goals. Or does it?

The leaders were, of course, puzzled just like you and me. So, they began to look at the health records of the people and found the answer. Obesity was not the problem. In fact, it had been the solution to a problem each person who dropped out had when they started the program. So when the began to lose weight they dropped out.

What problem was obesity the answer to for these people? What could possibly motivate a person to get obese? We are talking about obese not just overweight. They found that almost 300 of the drop outs had been sexually abused as children and youth. As one person said, "I needed to be overweight so men would not look at me as a sex object and want me. I got obese to protect myself."

This woman had gained 105 pounds the year after suffering a rape in college.

Weight loss programs do not work if the problem is abuse. The solution was being overweight for that person. If she does not get healed from the abuse she will never be motivated to lose the weight that protects her. Oh, she and I will agree that gaining 105 pounds is a very poor solution. It is a very bad thing to do but it may be the only solution she can think will work so she keeps eating, and eating and eating.

Do you know of anyone who suffers from a chronic problem that they just can't seem to be change? Alcohol? Drugs? Overeating? Under eating? Pornography? Anger? Sex?

Is the substance or focus the problem or the very bad answer to another problem? A very poor solution because he or she cannot think of an alternative?

Contact us if you need help finding a better solution to life's problems.