Unpopular Opinion

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I'm so sick of every single medical-related question people have online constantly getting spammed with 'talk to your doctor!!!!' (self.unpopularopinion)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by _number8_ to c/unpopularopinion

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The way people online constantly say 'talk to your doctor' like it's a panacea is a lot like how medieval peasants weren't able to read scripture and they just had to trust their clergy's interpretations

Sick of it. Usually it's not even like if I'm trying to find out if I have fucking cancer, I'm saying oh i feel sad in the evenings. why in the NAME of GOD would i want to then, for that, find the guy's number, call, leave a message cause it's midnight, wait for them to call back, schedule something 2 weeks later, worry the whole time, and try to remember and rephrase in formal clinical terminology exactly what's happening and get formal cold clinical advice for it from a guy I see twice a year. Just tell me! Give me colloquial advice and home remedies! good god!

There could be so many miracle tips or tricks online that really work but nooo people constantly shout 'talk to your doctor! call your doctor!' i don't want to fucking call the doctor, medical environments give me anxiety and all the bureaucracy and insurance and bills don't help matters either.

some zoomers on tiktok seem to get this and happily share 'oh this worked for me!' and usually it's somewhat helpful and a very nice, casual interaction that doesn't involve interaction with an authority figure and potential bills. it's that easy.

'ooh what about liability' don't care. liability has destroyed modern america, gatekeeping knowledge behind a culture of fear. if you're so scared about liability over a reddit comment, simply don't say anything! rather than leaving a pointless piece of advice that every single person on the planet knows is the default 'ideal' answer, that isn't necessarily actionable for many who don't have easy or trivial access to healthcare.

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[–] _number8_ 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

exactly, yes, thank you. it drives me insane when people act like they're so infallible that it automatically makes everyone else wrong, immoral even, for even giving advice. if they're typing from canada or the UK or europe that's one thing, cause it is more trivial to talk to a doctor, but in the US it's extremely obnoxious and presumptuous when you damn well know the way this country works yet still constantly badger people about it, with this attitude that of course i don't know what's best for me, nor should i even attempt to find out myself or double check or find other opinions, of course not, how dare i. the only corroboration allowed is making another appointment with another doctor. it's my body and life. when i was 15 i diagnosed myself with an extremely rare speech disorder two weeks before the expensive ENT did the same thing except with far more bluntness and insensitivity. haven't cared much for the outright worship of them since.

maybe the reason most medical advice online is so 'untrustworthy' is because everyone's been yelling this for 20 years so the only people bothering to try are the real kooks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Yeah. I trust medical professionals but they're far from perfect. They might prescribe you expensive pills for digestive problems before teaching you about the importance of fiber, or give you powerful psychoactive medication before introducing you to cognitive behavioral therapy.

Everyone's worried about liability, which is fine if you're giving paid medical advice, but stomping on people trying to learn about health issues isn't the way to handle it.