this post was submitted on 19 May 2024
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Unpopular Opinion

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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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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (6 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year 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.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year 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.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year 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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year 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.