5 ms·

> Norwegians are sanguine about their coughs and colds, toughing it out through low-grade infections. > "We don't throw antibiotics at every person with a feve

by r0h1n 13y ago

> Norwegians are sanguine about their coughs and colds, toughing it out through low-grade infections. > "We don't throw antibiotics at every person with a fever. We tell them to hang on, wait and see, and we give them a Tylenol to feel better," says Haug. I wish more of us would follow this approach and learn to accept being 'sick' for a few days (or even a week) every now and then.

rdtsc 13y ago
What I noticed in US is that people are very touchy about being uncomfortable. Doctors are supposed to "fix" problems and make things "comfortable". This usually means "give me antibiotics to kill this infections as fast as possible" and "give me more pain pills, I don't want to feel any slight discomfort". If doctor tells them to drink some hot tea and lay in bed instead they might just switch doctors who will give them antibiotics. Or say a doctor decides that well you can get opiates for your pain but you might become dependent so take some aspirin and tough it out -- that won't work with many. I know I am painting with a broad brush and with a sample of 30 or so acquaintances from both sides of the "pond" here, but it was my impression so far.
- r0h1n 13y ago
  Alas it is an affliction that is spreading around the world. More and more people I meet are unwilling to tolerate any 'downtime' for minor illnesses like colds.
- astrodust 13y ago
  It's ironic this attitude comes from the same country that tells you to "man up and walk it off" for just about anything.
  - jerf 13y ago
    "Man up and walk it off" is not uniformly distributed around the country. I give good odds that the rdstc is not from one of those areas. As usual, accusing huge groups of hypocrisy is not well-founded unless you can establish that the hypocritical attitudes really are held by the same people.
  - rdtsc 13y ago
    "man up and walk it off" is what we tell others
  - gtaylor 13y ago
    I think this is probably more of a TV/movie thing than much based in reality. We're no tougher than anyone else, but I could see how you may think we see ourselves as such if you just watch our movies/shows.
    - astrodust 13y ago
      You'd think that's true, but then again, look at how badly veterans are treated, especially those with deep psychological problems like PTSD.
- thwest 13y ago
  When you watch people lose jobs for sick time you tend to have that reaction.
- gtaylor 13y ago
  Yeah, that's a pretty broad brush. I don't even like to take Aspirin or Ibuprofen unless I have to, and I'm not the only one like that. Also, I've noticed that some of my fellow Generation Y'ers have arrived at similar opinions by observing the issues that come with the over-medication of their parents/grand parents into old age. Doctors love to prescribe stuff, and sometimes the interactions between drugs is so bad that it can be pretty scary. Observing this as a third party can be enough to make you wary about over-using medication. It's also expensive and our health insurance situation over here is awful. tl;dr, Yes, that's a huge generalization. I think a lot of younger Americans are starting to bend back the other way towards only medicating when necessary after seeing how much a can of worms it can be when used as a crutch.
parennoob 13y ago
In addition to rtdsc's comment, I have also observed that people in the US are more touchy about just the fact of 'being sick' and treat minor colds like it was TB or something. My girlfriend from here after I got a cold, "Oh, are you okay? Why do you think you got sick? Stay in bed for a while and take some medicine." No, it's just a cold. Why do I think I got sick? People get them when it turns cold out. Doesn't matter much except you sound like you're talking though a cup of tea.
- vidarh 13y ago
  I'm Norwegian, and worked for a US company years and years ago. Three of us went to Santa Cruz to visit the rest of the team. First morning there the local news was all up in arms about a storm. We looked out: There was a light drizzle. We walked to the office without umbrellas, in light clothes, and hardly got wet. It was well over 20 degrees celsius, and a pleasant enough 15 minute walk despite the light drizzle. We got into the office to find people in what looked like full survival mode, with raincoats, and hairdryers to get dry and warm. These were people who had driven right up to the office door. When they saw us they were horrified and worried we'd get pneumonia and wondered how we could have chosen to walk 15 minutes through the "storm". Of course it did rain slightly more some other places - causing mud slides that closed a couple of roads and cut off the gas supply for a couple of days. But for us it was all terribly amusing. After we went swimming in "only" something like 22 degrees in the water the following weekend, they got equally shocked (some of them asked if we'd used wet suits). I pointed out the coldest water I've been swimming in was 12 degrees, but I'm not sure they believed me.
  - vasilipupkin 13y ago
    I am not sure your anecdote illustrates anything interesting. Perhaps a very big rain storm had been expected but didn't materialize. Plenty of Americans that I have seen wear shorts when it's really cold out here in Chicago, I am not sure I would consider this a great idea or a badge of honor
  - vwinsyee 13y ago
    Eh, as an American who's visited several major US cities, I've observed a whole lot of variation in behavior during inclement weather, partly because the US is pretty big and hence pretty diverse in climate. The behavior you describe might be more common in southern California, where it doesn't rain all that often. When I was in Seattle (where it rains pretty much all the time), a lot of people didn't seem like they noticed it was raining.
speeder 13y ago
I do that, I avoid medicine, I do not remember why I took that policy (it was some years ago), but I did. I only take medicine (even supplements) if a medic convince me it is absolutely necessary, or if I have a issue that is unbearable (like so much pain that make me want to suicide) People here think I am crazy. :(

by r0h1n 13y ago

rdtsc 13y ago

What I noticed in US is that people are very touchy about being uncomfortable. Doctors are supposed to "fix" problems and make things "comfortable". This usually means "give me antibiotics to kill this infections as fast as possible" and "give me more pain pills, I don't want to feel any slight discomfort". If doctor tells them to drink some hot tea and lay in bed instead they might just switch doctors who will give them antibiotics. Or say a doctor decides that well you can get opiates for your pain but you might become dependent so take some aspirin and tough it out -- that won't work with many. I know I am painting with a broad brush and with a sample of 30 or so acquaintances from both sides of the "pond" here, but it was my impression so far.

r0h1n 13y ago
Alas it is an affliction that is spreading around the world. More and more people I meet are unwilling to tolerate any 'downtime' for minor illnesses like colds.
astrodust 13y ago
It's ironic this attitude comes from the same country that tells you to "man up and walk it off" for just about anything.
- jerf 13y ago
  "Man up and walk it off" is not uniformly distributed around the country. I give good odds that the rdstc is not from one of those areas. As usual, accusing huge groups of hypocrisy is not well-founded unless you can establish that the hypocritical attitudes really are held by the same people.
- rdtsc 13y ago
  "man up and walk it off" is what we tell others
- gtaylor 13y ago
  I think this is probably more of a TV/movie thing than much based in reality. We're no tougher than anyone else, but I could see how you may think we see ourselves as such if you just watch our movies/shows.
  - astrodust 13y ago
    You'd think that's true, but then again, look at how badly veterans are treated, especially those with deep psychological problems like PTSD.
thwest 13y ago
When you watch people lose jobs for sick time you tend to have that reaction.
gtaylor 13y ago
Yeah, that's a pretty broad brush. I don't even like to take Aspirin or Ibuprofen unless I have to, and I'm not the only one like that. Also, I've noticed that some of my fellow Generation Y'ers have arrived at similar opinions by observing the issues that come with the over-medication of their parents/grand parents into old age. Doctors love to prescribe stuff, and sometimes the interactions between drugs is so bad that it can be pretty scary. Observing this as a third party can be enough to make you wary about over-using medication. It's also expensive and our health insurance situation over here is awful. tl;dr, Yes, that's a huge generalization. I think a lot of younger Americans are starting to bend back the other way towards only medicating when necessary after seeing how much a can of worms it can be when used as a crutch.

parennoob 13y ago

In addition to rtdsc's comment, I have also observed that people in the US are more touchy about just the fact of 'being sick' and treat minor colds like it was TB or something. My girlfriend from here after I got a cold, "Oh, are you okay? Why do you think you got sick? Stay in bed for a while and take some medicine." No, it's just a cold. Why do I think I got sick? People get them when it turns cold out. Doesn't matter much except you sound like you're talking though a cup of tea.

vidarh 13y ago
I'm Norwegian, and worked for a US company years and years ago. Three of us went to Santa Cruz to visit the rest of the team. First morning there the local news was all up in arms about a storm. We looked out: There was a light drizzle. We walked to the office without umbrellas, in light clothes, and hardly got wet. It was well over 20 degrees celsius, and a pleasant enough 15 minute walk despite the light drizzle. We got into the office to find people in what looked like full survival mode, with raincoats, and hairdryers to get dry and warm. These were people who had driven right up to the office door. When they saw us they were horrified and worried we'd get pneumonia and wondered how we could have chosen to walk 15 minutes through the "storm". Of course it did rain slightly more some other places - causing mud slides that closed a couple of roads and cut off the gas supply for a couple of days. But for us it was all terribly amusing. After we went swimming in "only" something like 22 degrees in the water the following weekend, they got equally shocked (some of them asked if we'd used wet suits). I pointed out the coldest water I've been swimming in was 12 degrees, but I'm not sure they believed me.
- vasilipupkin 13y ago
  I am not sure your anecdote illustrates anything interesting. Perhaps a very big rain storm had been expected but didn't materialize. Plenty of Americans that I have seen wear shorts when it's really cold out here in Chicago, I am not sure I would consider this a great idea or a badge of honor
- vwinsyee 13y ago
  Eh, as an American who's visited several major US cities, I've observed a whole lot of variation in behavior during inclement weather, partly because the US is pretty big and hence pretty diverse in climate. The behavior you describe might be more common in southern California, where it doesn't rain all that often. When I was in Seattle (where it rains pretty much all the time), a lot of people didn't seem like they noticed it was raining.

speeder 13y ago

I do that, I avoid medicine, I do not remember why I took that policy (it was some years ago), but I did. I only take medicine (even supplements) if a medic convince me it is absolutely necessary, or if I have a issue that is unbearable (like so much pain that make me want to suicide) People here think I am crazy. :(