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Yeah, but no doctors asked about my stress, or emotional health, or anything that could have started me down the line of investigation. I treated it as an isola

Yeah, but no doctors asked about my stress, or emotional health, or anything that could have started me down the line of investigation. I treated it as an isolated physical problem, not a symptom of stress/mental issues. The response was always the same: "we don't know...sorry." Maybe I should've realized that stress was killing me, but I was severely depressed. It's not like I could see myself objectively.

cpncrunch 13y ago
I think the problem is that many patients prefer the idea that they have a physical illness, so some doctors don't even consider emotional causes. Also, doctors simply don't have the time needed to deal with these kinds of issues.
- dhoulb 13y ago
  Yeah, I imagine most good doctors know full well it's emotional/stress, but avoid telling the patients because it's not what patients like to hear, or they don't think it'll be helpful. Pharmaceutical treatments for stress have some harmful side effects, whereas just sending them away with "don't worry about it" and a lollipop might go a good way to alleviating some of it.
saraid216 13y ago
That's because popular culture believes that there's a separation, which means that if a doctor of your physical health asks you about your emotional well-being, the typical response isn't, "Gee, he must need some relevant information" but rather "Oh, my doctor is being inappropriate; maybe I ought to get offended and sue".
wdewind 13y ago
> Yeah, but no doctors asked about my stress, or emotional health, or anything that could have started me down the line of investigation. That's pretty shocking. Even a family GP should be asking about that stuff. I've never had one not. When I had GI issues the specialist I saw went as far as to say "We're going to do more tests, but I can explain all your symptoms with physical response to stress." Ended up being a stomach ulcer.

cpncrunch 13y ago

I think the problem is that many patients prefer the idea that they have a physical illness, so some doctors don't even consider emotional causes. Also, doctors simply don't have the time needed to deal with these kinds of issues.

dhoulb 13y ago
Yeah, I imagine most good doctors know full well it's emotional/stress, but avoid telling the patients because it's not what patients like to hear, or they don't think it'll be helpful. Pharmaceutical treatments for stress have some harmful side effects, whereas just sending them away with "don't worry about it" and a lollipop might go a good way to alleviating some of it.

saraid216 13y ago

That's because popular culture believes that there's a separation, which means that if a doctor of your physical health asks you about your emotional well-being, the typical response isn't, "Gee, he must need some relevant information" but rather "Oh, my doctor is being inappropriate; maybe I ought to get offended and sue".

wdewind 13y ago

> Yeah, but no doctors asked about my stress, or emotional health, or anything that could have started me down the line of investigation. That's pretty shocking. Even a family GP should be asking about that stuff. I've never had one not. When I had GI issues the specialist I saw went as far as to say "We're going to do more tests, but I can explain all your symptoms with physical response to stress." Ended up being a stomach ulcer.