The World’s Fattest Man: 10 Years On will air tonight on ITV at 9pm. It will demonstrate to viewers Paul Mason’s rollercoaster journey with his weight.
“I thought, right, this is the time for me to make sure that my journey is documented and I thought it would help other people.”
Looking back at the past few years, Paul recalled the difficulties of being obese, including an experience in the hospital where doctors had “never dealt with anyone my size”.
He said: “They brought me a form to sign that said if I died while I was in hospital at that size, they would have to dispose of my body in an abbatoir.
“Part of my journey was that you felt like you are not a human and you’re just a name on a piece of paper.”
For Paul, to maintain his weight loss he needed – and still needs – help with his mental health.
“Therapy is the main thing for me,” he said.
“I don’t think the NHS put enough resources into the therapy side.
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“You can have six sessions on the NHS and that’s not even going to touch the surface.”
Paul received therapy from 2008 up until 2014, when he moved to the US.
He thought he would no longer need help after his surgery, but things unfortunately “didn’t work out”.
Paul spends many days on his own after separating from his partner, Rebecca, and he continues to live with addiction and depression, as well as arthritis.
He said: “Now, I’ve got severe arthritis so it’s limiting my mobility and it makes things harder.
“The support Rebecca gave me was very good, but she just got to the stage where she couldn’t do that anymore.
“And I could see that, it’s very hard I think living with someone with an addiction and depression.”
The 60-year-old, who is now 38 stone, hopes his documentary will show the world that investing in your mental health is just as important as physical health as often, and certainly in his case, both go hand-in-hand.
Source: Daily Express | Diet
