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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRicky Gervais has opened up about his worries about his health and the sometimes painful lengths he goes to avoid seeing a doctor.<\/p>\n
The 63-year-old comedian, who is currently touring his new stand-up show Mortality<\/em>, made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live <\/em>on Thursday (29 May) where he spoke jokingly about his health and his age.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m reminded every day that I\u2019m getting older,\u201d he admitted. \u201cEverything is just sort of slower and aches more. When I get up in the morning and I walk downstairs, it’s like I\u2019ve got false legs. They are like stiff pirate legs. It just hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked by Kimmel whether he ever sees any experts about his ailments, Gervais said that he doesn\u2019t \u201cbecause that\u2019s admin\u201d.<\/p>\n
Gervais then shared what he does when he thinks he\u2019s discovered a problem with himself, which often involves consulting his long-term partner, the author and TV producer Jane Fallon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens is I wake up and I go \u2018Oh I\u2019ve got a lump or a pain\u2019 and I go to Jane \u2018What do you think that is?\u2019 She goes \u2018Go to the doctor\u2019 and I go \u2018What do you think it\u2019s serious?\u2019 She goes \u2018No, I don\u2019t know\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Gervais and Jane Fallon in 2016 (Getty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nGervais says that he then resorts to Googling his symptoms, which often involves him jumping to serious conclusions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I Google whatever is and put in the symptoms and the first few are alright related to stress or diets. I go \u2018Oh that\u2019s great, that\u2019s fine\u2019 and I push my luck and number seven says cancer. I go \u2018Jane, I\u2019m dying\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gervais did concede that he goes to see a doctor once every 10 years but only when he believes he has a \u201clife threatening\u201d issue. He also sometimes tries to resolve the situation by himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI broke a tooth right after Christmas on a Kettle Chip and I just went \u2018Oh for f***\u2019s sake, what\u2019s the chances of that?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cSo we had to get an emergency dentist. If I had a drill I would have done it myself. I\u2019ll do anything myself. If there is a pill or an ointment, I\u2019ll try anything. I\u2019ve never had a surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n
He then shared a particularly gruesome story about trying to remove a skin tag. \u201cYou know those skin tags? I had one on my eyelid so I cut it off with a pair of nail scissors,\u201d he began. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was in pain and I was gnawing through it with these little scissors and it was bleeding. I came downstairs and Jane said \u2018What did you do?\u2019 I said \u2018I cut it off\u2019. She said in response: \u2018Are you f***ing mad?\u2019 You could get sepsis\u2019 I just sort of got Savlon, the antiseptic cream, and put that everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gervais concluded the segment by sharing a story about visiting a doctor when he was a teenager. \u201cI was sort of showing off because I studied biology and I said \u2018Oh I’ve got a pain in my epidmus.\u2019 So he went and had a look and said \u2018Your jeans are too tight \u2013they’re squeezing your balls.\u2019 That’s what I want from a doctor!\u201d<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Ricky Gervais at the 2020 Golden Globes (2020 NBCUniversal Media, LLC via)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAlthough Gervais never said that he has health anxiety, the condition has started to be treated more seriously in recent years and was formally recognised by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013. It was then termed \u201cillness anxiety disorder\u201d. <\/p>\n
Preliminary studies published in 2010 showed up to half of patients with health anxiety could be helped by nurses trained in cognitive therapy.<\/p>\n
According to the NHS, if a GP diagnoses you with health anxiety, they may refer you for a talking therapy or offer you a medicine for anxiety. You can refer yourself directly to an NHS talking therapies service without a referral from a GP.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Ricky Gervais has opened up about his worries about his health and the sometimes painful lengths he goes to avoid seeing a doctor. The 63-year-old comedian, who is currently touring his new stand-up show Mortality, made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday (29 May) where he spoke jokingly about his health and his age. \u201cI\u2019m reminded every day that I\u2019m getting older,\u201d he admitted. \u201cEverything is just sort of slower and aches more. When I get up in the morning and I walk downstairs, it’s like I\u2019ve got false legs. They are like stiff pirate legs. It just hurts.\u201d When asked by Kimmel whether he ever sees any experts about his ailments, Gervais said that he doesn\u2019t \u201cbecause that\u2019s admin\u201d. Gervais then shared what he does when he thinks he\u2019s discovered a problem with himself, which often involves consulting his long-term partner, the author and TV producer Jane Fallon. \u201cWhat happens is I wake up and I go \u2018Oh I\u2019ve got a lump or a pain\u2019 and I go to Jane \u2018What do you think that is?\u2019 She goes \u2018Go to the doctor\u2019 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}