People have stopped going to the doctor and most seem fine

Re:People have stopped going to the doctor and most seem fine by ryandrake on Monday June 22, 2020 @11:08AM (#23601059)

As someone who rarely goes to the doctor (unless it's very serious) and when he does, does extensive "internet research" of his symptoms beforehand to come in knowledgable, I agree that for me, GPs gatekeeping medicine is unnecessary.

BUUUUT, I have a family friend who is basically a hypochondriac. She goes to the doctor ridiculously frequently, and is always trying to convince them (and everyone else who will listen) that she has all these undiagnosed medical conditions that she needs constant treatment for. Usually she's just sent home, where she does more and more "internet research" to find even more things that must be wrong with her. And it's not substance addiction: She's not going in there seeking abusable medication. She just wants validation that she has all these terrible conditions that she's dreamt up, and someone to finally tell her she's right. So, I guess at the end of the day we do need the gatekeepers, as anachronistic as they seem.

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Re:People have stopped going to the doctor and most seem fine by Cthulhu_ on Monday June 22, 2020 @11:11AM (#23601092)

Counterpoint: What if she's not faking it? There's conditions like endometriosis that are horribly underdiagnosed and often dismissed as IBS; the average diagnosis takes seven years. Recently a 40-some year old died after being dismissed for years; her abdomen was riddled with endo tissue and adhesions, likely killing her in the end.

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Re:People have stopped going to the doctor and most seem fine by robbiep on Friday June 26, 2020 @11:51AM (#23653365)

There is no easy way to solve the problem of mis- or un-diagnosis, except better training, better awareness and hopefully better diagnostic techniques

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