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Hilary Sutcliffe's avatar

Very interesting indeed Sean and Andrew. Love 'liquid willpower'! That's the sort of two word constructs which will really make them even more popular!

Would love to talk about this in relation to our work on The Addiction Economy, and the 5 Models Framework of Addiction (Moral, Biological, Psychological, Social and the one we propose is added, Economic). A key part of the Biological is the view of addiction or whatever ill health results in harm, is the result of a brain disorder and so is solved by a pharmacological solution. Where the Economic drivers of ill health are forgotten by everyone, and are not part of the solution. The individual is blamed for their lack of will power, and the impact of the economic model on their community (social) overlooked. Certainly the regulation of the companies causing the problems doesn't get raise much.

Here is our White Paper

https://bit.ly/3LMUK0d

And here is a letter I got on that in the Financial Times last week

https://bit.ly/3ydHVsp

If we could interest you in a zoom about this, we would love to. hilary@societyinside.com

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Cori Lathan's avatar

I think you make some good points Sean but unfortunately saying that obesity is a a lifestyle disease perpetuates the "blame the victim" mentality that is pervasive. Yes, obesity has traditionally been addressed through lifestyle changes, as were many diseases before scientifically validated medications were available. Obesity is a genetic disorder, that like many others (depression, alzheimer's, cancer), can be affected by lifestyle changes. For many years, using medication to treat mental health had a stigma as well. We now now that medication in combination with other things including lifestyle changes like diet and exercise can be very effective (for both depression AND obesity).

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