New to this forum, but have been watching this series for the past few years online. I've watched Jeanne's episode twice, and would like to share a few comments.
I don't think Jeanne and her parents would qualify as hoarders, unless nine dogs would count as hoarding them. I think they are slovenly and lazy, and accept to live in squalor, but don't seem to hoard anything that I've noticed.
The marks on the walls have impressed me as cracks in the paint and/or plaster, not as cobwebs. In my experience, cobwebs usually form in corners rather than across a wide wall.
I didn't notice candles burning anywhere in their home, but did notice lamps with bare bulbs, no shades.
The general public does tend to stare at obese people, and sometimes to make rude remarks as well. Even if they are clean and well-dressed. Even if they don't have camera crews with them, or are not engaging in hazardous activities such as smoking near gasoline pumps. We have seen many of the patients who hate being in public for this reason. Think of Kandi and Brandi, and how they had to get a fast food fix to steady their nerves, before they could allow themselves to be seen at the supermarket.
I don't like Jeanne at all, but tend to believe the back story she told about herself and the traumatic experiences, even though she tells lies. People don't abuse themselves to this degree, such as eating up to six or seven hundred pounds, without hating themselves; and they don't hate themselves for no reason.
Although some patients can succeed on the diet with just the printout and the brief explanation from the doctor, I think many of them, especially the less-educated ones like Jeanne, need more detailed training, to make sure they really understand the hows and whys of it. Like a one-hour sit-down with a dietician who takes it down to the nitty-gritty, and an illustrated guidebook that shows how to weigh and measure everything, the best ways to shop and cook, etc. And a notebook to use for food journaling that they would bring in with them to each appointment. A real starter kit, to maximize the patients' chances of compliance. A poundicipants' bootcamp. 😊
People like Jeanne who, I think, eat themselves into oblivion out of deep psychological disturbance, cannot simply flip a switch within their minds and change from eating 20,000 to 1,200 calories a day, no matter how well-trained they might be. They cannot just "snap out of it," to quote Cher in Moonstruck. 😉 If they could, they probably would not need Dr. Now. As some others here have said, they need the psychotherapy first, and probably something more intensive than what the program's usual on-camera therapists can provide. For patients like Jeanne, a year or more of this type of therapy might be needed before they would be ready for the diet.
Even though I don't like Jeanne, or her parents, I don't think she had much chance of success. Some of the patients, including her and Sean, are just too damaged. Although I don't like it when they lie to the doctor, weight loss is not one-size-fits-all. Dr. Now's program is not going to work for everyone. For people like Joe Wexler and this season's Justin, it works. They can reboot their lives and start over. But not everyone can achieve this type of behavior modification on their own or with an occasional therapy session. If they can survive, in my opinion, they need an analyst and the willingness to do that type of soul-searching hard work. The type where you feel worse before you get better.
Cheers everyone.
