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There's a lot of conflation and paternalism in this article. I get the TikTok tics being socially motivated and reinforced. Expanding that to include social r

There's a lot of conflation and paternalism in this article. I get the TikTok tics being socially motivated and reinforced. Expanding that to include social reinforcement of being Fair Ophelia... fine, that can be a subset. The wide sweeps this article makes at people trying to deal with a chronic condition, especially ones where the symptoms are not immediately visible (pain, fatigue, nausea)... that's one of the reasons why women rarely get diagnosed as quickly and have worse health outcomes [0]. The core root here is sick people, mainly women and girls, being unable to get medical help that actually helps. This leads to seeking social support elsewhere, which then reinforces bad cycles. Moving the blame to the sick people, instead of the medical system which can't help them, is not great. --- [0] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/03/27/597159133/how-bad-medicine-dismisses-and-misdiagnoses-womens-symptoms https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/03/27/5971591...

touisteur 4y ago
Thanks for this. I wish there was more empathy, respect for the suffering of others, as diffuse, hardly-visible or 'lazy' it might sound. For a start. The medical diagnostics, discoveries, treatment or cures may take time to appear, but the default should be: so, you're in pain, I believe you. Yes some people will abuse your empathy, or seek attention through simulated pain, but that's also something we should strive to take care and cure. The default should be 'I believe you're in pain, let's see what we can do for you'. Maybe this is first-world idealistic, maybe religious-rooted I don't know, but it is a horrible experience where you fear talking about your pain because you'll be judged, shunned, rejected, mocked, blamed.
- octokatt 4y ago
  > where you fear talking about your pain because you'll be judged, shunned, rejected, mocked, blamed This really strikes to the heart of it. If the outcome of a fifteen minute appointment I’ve waited nine months for will determine whether I’m going to receive a diagnosis that _might_ lead to a better outcome, there’s no way I’m not going to do a lot of research to make that appointment go well. And then there’s no way that anxiety won’t be monetized in some way. We need doctors to be able to be compassionate people working towards the best solution, instead of trying to pigeon hole diagnosis codes for vague, protracted illnesses so insurance companies will allow them to continue working.

touisteur 4y ago

Thanks for this. I wish there was more empathy, respect for the suffering of others, as diffuse, hardly-visible or 'lazy' it might sound. For a start. The medical diagnostics, discoveries, treatment or cures may take time to appear, but the default should be: so, you're in pain, I believe you. Yes some people will abuse your empathy, or seek attention through simulated pain, but that's also something we should strive to take care and cure. The default should be 'I believe you're in pain, let's see what we can do for you'. Maybe this is first-world idealistic, maybe religious-rooted I don't know, but it is a horrible experience where you fear talking about your pain because you'll be judged, shunned, rejected, mocked, blamed.

octokatt 4y ago
> where you fear talking about your pain because you'll be judged, shunned, rejected, mocked, blamed This really strikes to the heart of it. If the outcome of a fifteen minute appointment I’ve waited nine months for will determine whether I’m going to receive a diagnosis that _might_ lead to a better outcome, there’s no way I’m not going to do a lot of research to make that appointment go well. And then there’s no way that anxiety won’t be monetized in some way. We need doctors to be able to be compassionate people working towards the best solution, instead of trying to pigeon hole diagnosis codes for vague, protracted illnesses so insurance companies will allow them to continue working.