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submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by _number8_@lemmy.world to c/unpopularopinion@lemmy.world

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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[-] PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com 81 points 6 months ago

There could be so many miracle tips or tricks online that really work

You know what they call alternative medicine that's been proved to work? - Medicine.” ― Tim Minchin

I'm not really sure you understand just how complicated being a doctor is and making the correct diagnosis is. Sure, it might be something small if you feel sad in the evenings. It might also be a brain tumor. Home remedies might work in both cases, and they might not.

But you know what will probably work more often that not? A doctor's prescription.

Talk to you doctor.

[-] _number8_@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

yeah, this is exactly what i mean.

"Talk to you doctor." i love that, like a mic drop. i don't understand people's burning desire to be so ostentatious about this point. yes yes yes obviously that is the best case scenario. congratulations, you posted the most generic answer to any question, take 40 points, awesome. it's just this arbitrary blind faith in authority -- can you imagine how many billions of dollars are spent by health insurance companies in the US to cultivate this exact line of thought in the populace? 100 years ago they only recently discovered you needed to wash your hands, and people act like they're infallible deities.

“You know what they call alternative medicine that’s been proved to work? - Medicine.”

great, and now it's gatekept to doctors only rather than being accessible to the common populace. W.

[-] retrospectology@lemmy.world 23 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It's a generic answer because it's the only responsible answer. To give someone medical advice when you have no medical expertise is highly irresponsible because not only are you potentially misleading the person asking, but countless others who read the discussion.

It should only ever be "talk to your doctor" because medical advice is one thing the Internet cannot provide and no one should be enlisting others in helping them treat their health as some kind of horoscope.

[-] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 6 points 6 months ago

The amount of times I've been online and misdiagnosed myself, man I don't even know. Worst case was I convinced myself I had afib. Knew it, from all of my reading and everything I had all the symptoms.

Except I didn't have them, because since I've never experienced the symptoms I thought I had the symptoms, but I did not.

The knowledge isn't "gatekept", it's not something they hide away in a chest. It takes 10 years of medical school and several more after that of on the job training just to be a junior doctor. Talk about minimizing how complex the human body and all possible ailments are. We go to doctors not for the 15 minutes in the exam room with them, but because of the decades of knowledge they learned so we didn't have to.

[-] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 14 points 6 months ago

Anyone can become a doctor and learn the same knowledge, it's just a lot of effort. No one is stopping you.

[-] stoly@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

And amazingly it’s not a question of intelligence, but rather tenacity. It’s really a lot of time and work but most people could do it if they had the willingness and opportunity.

[-] Tenniswaffles 13 points 6 months ago

You would trust random idiots on the internet to give you medical advice? How fucking stupid. People have died because of bad advice given on the internet, and you want to encourage this?

For every "miracle tip" there's at least 10 fuckwits giving potentially dangerous advice.

[-] Harvey656@lemmy.world 13 points 6 months ago

This is without a doubt the worst take I have ever read ever. All that knowledge is on the internet in ebooks by the way. Don't want to go to the doctor? Learn.

[-] JackiesFridge@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago

So if you get in a horrible accident and lose a limb, make sure to ask the internet for advice as you bleed out. Don't be a sucker for "big surgeon" and bow to authority.

It if your house burns down, ask a bunch of randos to help rebuild it. You don't want to support that multi-billion-dollar construction industry.

Consider for a moment that most doctors actually know what they're doing and the beef you have is with a dystopian society that's figured out how to commodify basic needs to a point where we all need to "earn" our very existence.

this post was submitted on 19 May 2024
106 points (100.0% liked)

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