Dr Christian Jessen Says His New Show Explores 'The Psychology Of Ill Health'

Dr Christian Jessen of 'Embarrassing Bodies' fame is returning to TV with a brand new show this week entitled 'Dr Christian Will See You Now'. In it, he aims to tackle the deeper issues within physical ill-health, getting to the root of the nation's ailments.

Christian Jessen spotted on the red carpet in 2016

A similar format to 'Embarrassing Bodies', the show takes on a variety of patients and gives them extended appointments, allowing them to open up about the things that are making their life difficult at the moment - both physically and psychologically.

'It's a really interesting show looking at the psychology of ill health', he revealed in an interview. 'It's taking illness and seeing how it affects the mind, the people you live with and relationships. How often a symptom, say Irritable Bowel Syndrome or the pain in your knee is in fact not the symptom of a disease but a symptom of a deeper underlying unhappiness in life or a psychological problem that manifests as a physical one.'

The basis behind the show is to look at people's symptoms in a much more in-depth way, getting to the core of the illness and seeing if they can be eased by simple lifestyle changes or a different psychological outlook. 'We had the luxury of time to sit and talk with them', he explains. 'Behind whatever the initial condition, there was a whole host of other deep set, long-term psychological problems. By treating those, we dealt with more issues than just the one thing they came in with.'

Getting to see a doctor in the UK can be a difficult enterprise. There are so few doctors for the amount of people needing advice and treatment, which has led many practices to drastically limit the amount of time that a patient can spend with an NHS general practitioner. Christian believes that brief appointments don't always do much good. 'Is a ten minute GP consultation really the best way to manage the nations' health?' He says. 'I would argue that it isn't really possible to look after someone's health completely in ten minutes, it's impossible and maybe that needs to change.'

Dr Christian has a MSc degree in sexual health having studied medicine at University College London. His day job sees him working in London's most prestigious area for private healthcare, Harley Street. His television career began with 'Embarrassing Bodies' alongside Pixie McKenna and Dawn Harper - a series which ran from 2007 to 2015. He also hosted the weight loss show 'Supersize vs Superskinny' between 2008 and 2014.

'Dr Christian Will See You Now' is set to air on W Channel tonight (March 22nd 2017) at 9pm.