Case study 2

Naimh O’ Dea’, 35 years-of-age, is over-weight. She is embarrassed and depressed. Obesity is having a deleterious effect on her health, her relationships with friends and relations and her ability to do even simple household chores or engage in activities with her three pre-teen children. 

Her doctor has warned her that she needs to give up smoking and reduce her alcohol intake. As with so many instances of this syndrome, the core reason for her obesity is not explored, though a dietician offers her helpful advice on what foods to eat and what to avoid and the quantity and frequency of her meals. 

Only in trajectory 4 can we begin to surmise that her childhood in a dysfunctional household leading to compensatory eating and eating of ‘unhealthy’ processed food might be a plausible contributory factor. Eating is a habit-forming activity.  

The longer a routine is adhered to, the harder it becomes to change it. Whatever the cause or causes of her condition, Naimh needs the constant supportive care and attention that an over-extended national health service cannot hope to fully provide.  

GlenGyle Associates can help to ‘plug the gap’ between what the state can be reasonably expected to provide, despite limited resources and staff shortages, and the multi-faceted needs that Naimh’s condition exposes.