Mike - If you are suggesting that bariatric surgery would, wholesale, cure eating disorders than I'm afrain you appear to be misguided. I feel you would be astonished by how many calories a person having had this style of surgery can manage to consume in a day, if they either want to, or indeed, by virtue of their eating disorder are compelled to.
I'm suggesting that eating disorders are in the most part psycological, psychiatrical or neurologic problem that should be treated as such.
For instance bulimia is a symtptom of depression, so giving some Prozac and comportamental theraphy will cure the depression and this in turn will cure the eating problem. Saying to a bulimic (or anorexic) patient that it's only a question of willpower works less that giving them an electric shock.
At the same time bariatric surgery will maybe remove the symtom but not the underlying problem. Unfortunaely I think that having to go to the "asylum" is deemed a hameful thing, when instead having an operation at the stomach is not.
On a related note: i've quit smoking alone eight year ago, prom a pack a day to nothing. It's hard and requires willpower. IF someone likes to quit smoking but fails I'm the first to suggest them to call the Smokeline and get an appointment.
I'm unsure whom you are suggesting has Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), but if it's me, I can assure you I might be eccentric, and at times, left field, but I don't have NPD.
If it's not me you are inferring has NPD, I'm not asking you to declare whom it might be.
It was not you whom I was refferring, but i was thinking about one series of comment I've read in this thread about the fact that if one is obese is only for lack of willpower. Things that I've read since when I connected with a 2400 bps modem to a BBS: maybe I should have used the term "spitting venom behind a keyboard" to be more clear.
