Here’s a (very stupid) parody of the attitude as I imagine it from the most obstinate people with this view:
Well, my doctor says I need to take this medication, so that’s what I’m going to do. I don’t care what all those other people online are saying about their experiences with it. My doctor knows best, and I’m not going to listen to a bunch of anonymous strangers on the internet. They’re probably just making stuff up anyway.
Sure, I get that a lot of people had some nasty side effects or didn’t see any improvement, but my doctor assured me that won’t happen to me. He’s a professional, so I trust him completely. And I know he’s only trying to help, not line his own pockets or anything.
All those online forums and support groups are just a waste of time. What could a bunch of regular people possibly know that my highly educated, experienced doctor doesn’t? I’m going to take this medication exactly as prescribed and not ask any questions. My doctor is infallible, and I refuse to get a second opinion or consider any other options. Nope, I’m just going to blindly follow his advice and ignore everyone else. That’s the smart and responsible thing to do!
(Yes, this is extraordinary (and like I said stupid), and yes your doctor knows more than JoeRando420 telling you to buy homeopathic crystal suppositories. In fact I only have one user in mind writing this post, someone I forget who posted long ago about a condition I cannot remember. Hope they got better.)
Main point is: why not let a large number of people who heard about a condition from their own qualified doctors help you at least scribble down some questions to ask your own medical folks at your next appointment? (But please avoid those crystal suppositories.)
Why trust the one professional who went through a decade of training and has my multi decade history over a group of people who spoke with their professional who went through a decade of training and doesn’t have my multi decade history?
Well if I have a bad reaction to a medication, my doctor can work with manufacturers to also prescribe a medication to prevent the problem, or a more generic drug without those effects. where a group of random people will do the equivalent of throwing shit at the wall and hope it sticks.
Main point is: why not let a large number of people who heard about a condition from their own qualified doctors help you at least scribble down some questions to ask your own medical folks at your next appointment? (But please avoid those crystal suppositories.)
Because:
- You have no way of verifying their anecdotes ever happened, that they were prescribed and on the medication
- no way of knowing other circumstances that affect medications, like drug interactions, or other unfortunate habits they might have had
- they have no knowledge of your underlying medical situation
- your doctor has 2 and 3, and should have access to studies in lieu of 1.
- Internet Randos are inherently untrustworthy.
- your doctor doesn’t get paid if you die.
Option 1 - trust the medical professional sat in front of me, looking at my health data and making informed suggestions
Option 2 - Trust the village idiots online who don’t trust doctors and would instead suggest many nonsense remedies
I have no way of knowing if they actually heard anything from their doctor, or if they are a doctor if they claim to be. If I think it’s concerning, I’ll talk to my doctor whom I can verify is actually who they say they are about it.
It’s a matter of trust. I simply do not trust anyone I can’t actually talk face to face with.
Albeit talking face to face is only a necessary condition, it’s not enough for trusting the person to advise you
Good point.
Would you take a risk when reading from someone who may be lying to you, to the point you would
scribble down some questions to ask your own medical folks
?
“Hello doctor! I read on a forum, filled with anonymous strangers, that if I dissolve all my medication in urine, it purifies it of all toxins! Can you vouch for that?”
Is absolutely not a conversation I want to have with my doctor.
Getting a second opinion is a very common thing for people with serious conditions. Not really sure what you’re on about.
Yeah it sure is, probably the top reason the parody was so dumb.
In fact I only have one user in mind writing this post, someone I forget who posted long ago about a condition I cannot remember.
I think they said they would block anyone who tried to offer any advice. But even they had probably had years and years of second and nth opinions.
Come to think of it, I think I’m also responding to someone who demanded anyone seeking care “listen to your doctors!“ in a way that seem to preclude the fact that there is a safe way to use the fallible input of anonymous strangers as a tentative guiding factor.
Well, Yes. Your doctor does know better than the people sharing their experience online! Your own doctor knows how your body functions and will prescribe your medicine accordingly.
They will also make sure the medicine they give you won’t harm you or your body.
While I don’t think you should base your decisions on opinions from random people on the Internet, I also don’t think you should blindly follow your doctor.
I’ve seen many older doctors not keep up with more current treatments, or refuse to prescribe some things because their new/they don’t know about them.
I’ve also seen far too many people get into med school, who I wouldn’t trust to put a bandaid on.
That being said, your doctor should know what’s best for you (as others have mentioned). But there’s no problem with getting a second opinion/doing some research (legitimate research, not just stuff to prove your opinion).
Tl;Dr: probably trust your doctor, but be open to other (valid) opinions.
I’ve also seen far too many people get into med school, who I wouldn’t trust to put a bandaid on.
Isn’t that why they’re going to med school? To learn (among other things) how to best put the bandaid on?
You are right. I should have specified seen them get in and through med school. But it’s mainly their reason for going into it ($$$), and sometimes lack of skill.
I do trust most doctor’s opinions though.
If your car is making a rumble noise, you take it to a mechanic who tells you its a failed wheel bearing. Do you then go and change the gearbox because you dont trust professionals?
Haha might just ask “hey does the gearbox ever rumble like that?”, that’s all 🙂
s/o to old school car forums who’ve guided my way when I’ve known zero, btw
And then the mechanic will answer “yes. But its the wheel bearing thats making the noise.” Do you then go to the car forums and ask help with chaning the gearbox or do you trust the professional and change the wheel bearing?
Because a lot of things online are blatantly false, you can’t tell if people are memeing, astroTurfing, have some weird agenda, or they all listen to one misinformed influencer.
Your doctor, on the other hand has a medical duty to operate in your best interest, and to inform you of your best options.
Are doctors always correct? Do they always have the time to understand your issue? Hell no. You’re still responsible for your own health care, but the doctor is supposed to be the dispassionate, invested, and rational consultant to help you on your journey
So if somebody doesn’t have the time, energy, background, language skills, to actually look at research, it is reasonable for them to say I’m going to go with my doctor, and not other people. That’s fair, that’s your heuristic, nothing wrong with that as long as it’s done intelligently
If you’re trying to convince somebody to go against their doctor’s advice, the burden is on you, to provide them overwhelming compelling evidence. The probabilities they’re operating under are that their doctor is correct and you are misinformed. The onus is on you to do all of the work, to prove your position. That’s a high barrier
I’d say it’s a matter of what are the chances of bad advice. If something people on the internet are talking about is widely known, there would also be papers with research, and I’m better off reading that. If it’s a niche stuff, their talk on the internet doesn’t bear statistical significance anyway.
Sure, there are scammers and incompetent doctors, but I would rather ask several people with a medical license, than several thousand laymen that think they are competent enough to give advices
Good laying out the cost-benefit here.
there would also be papers with research, and I’m better off reading that.
I had this in mind: that eventually somebody links some paper where they’ve read the abstract… then it’s sensible to read the whole thing and see if it’s worth discussing with someone qualified I suppose.
Thanks 🙂
Doctors are people too and can make mistakes, but they are highly educated (hopefully through accreditation) and depending how long they have been in practice, experienced. That being said, online educational sources can help get you started if you suspect something is wrong, but don’t try to do a doctor’s work from online research. This includes asking Lemmy/reddit advice.
Yeah, the internet is an echo chamber. You get lots of bad advice here. And urban myths are regularly being upvoted to no end. Especially here on Lemmy.
Usually a doctor should know things, they studied medicine for years.
And there are people with certain attitudes… People who only respond well to arguments of authority… And people who have a different perspective on subjectivity/objectivity and the factual world. Lots of people just want to believe something. And they’ll search for any fake news supporting them or letting them believe whatever supports what they’re set on.
I’d say if you’re intelligent and know how to do research, and have the time to do so, look up things and learn things. If you can’t do that: Stick with authority.
And most importantly: Don’t ask on Lemmy or Reddit if you don’t want to talk to random people and listen to them.
Thanks for the great input everybody!
