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"Half Ton Teen" aired New Year's Day 2009 on TLC.
Billy actually weighed 800 and something pounds, but it may as well been a thousand pounds. Billy was 19 and though he could barely walk for brief moments, he spent his life confined to bed. His mother waited on him hand and foot, bringing him 30,000 calories a day worth of food; the camera crew followed her around the grocery store; the mother filled a cart up with junk food, explaining it was hard to say no to her son.
Billy's mother also kept him busy with video games she'd bring him. Billy was not the least bit demanding, I might add. The mother had a habit of asking him what he needed, could she bring him some food? The mother herself was obese. The mother gave her 800 pound son plenty of tender loving care - never too busy to bring him things and make sure he was comfortable, always speaking in a gentle, caring voice.
Billy is his mother's second son. The first child died when he was only 19 months old. A person need not have a master's degree in psychology to figure this one out. But in case it eludes some readers, here it is: Billy's mother never got over the pain of losing her first baby. A mother in this situation never gets over the pain, but at least, the typical mother moves on, and if she has more babies, will hopefully be a good, empowering mother to them.
What Billy's mother did is keep him in an infantile state by feeding him so much that ultimately, he ended up practically living the life of a baby: doing little more than eating, sleeping and playing games. This was his mother's way of guaranteeing he'd never leave her. An 800 pound man who's been waited on by his mother is not likely to want to ever leave the house and strike out on his own.
Billy's father was in the picture, but in a very passive way. The mother relived caring for her first baby by taking care of Billy - feeding him, cleaning him, massaging his feet, arranging his bed covers -- because, though Billy apparently had normal intelligence, his 800 pound body prevented him from taking care of his basic needs. Further, Billy had been trained by his mother to be psychologically dependent upon her.
source
This will air again at 8pm on TLC tonight...
:shakemihead:
Billy actually weighed 800 and something pounds, but it may as well been a thousand pounds. Billy was 19 and though he could barely walk for brief moments, he spent his life confined to bed. His mother waited on him hand and foot, bringing him 30,000 calories a day worth of food; the camera crew followed her around the grocery store; the mother filled a cart up with junk food, explaining it was hard to say no to her son.
Billy's mother also kept him busy with video games she'd bring him. Billy was not the least bit demanding, I might add. The mother had a habit of asking him what he needed, could she bring him some food? The mother herself was obese. The mother gave her 800 pound son plenty of tender loving care - never too busy to bring him things and make sure he was comfortable, always speaking in a gentle, caring voice.
Billy is his mother's second son. The first child died when he was only 19 months old. A person need not have a master's degree in psychology to figure this one out. But in case it eludes some readers, here it is: Billy's mother never got over the pain of losing her first baby. A mother in this situation never gets over the pain, but at least, the typical mother moves on, and if she has more babies, will hopefully be a good, empowering mother to them.
What Billy's mother did is keep him in an infantile state by feeding him so much that ultimately, he ended up practically living the life of a baby: doing little more than eating, sleeping and playing games. This was his mother's way of guaranteeing he'd never leave her. An 800 pound man who's been waited on by his mother is not likely to want to ever leave the house and strike out on his own.
Billy's father was in the picture, but in a very passive way. The mother relived caring for her first baby by taking care of Billy - feeding him, cleaning him, massaging his feet, arranging his bed covers -- because, though Billy apparently had normal intelligence, his 800 pound body prevented him from taking care of his basic needs. Further, Billy had been trained by his mother to be psychologically dependent upon her.
source
This will air again at 8pm on TLC tonight...
:shakemihead:
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