A Nation of Anxious Wimps....

[geauxtohell]

A pretty good read.

It’s obvious to me that despite all the furor and rancor, what is being debated in Washington currently is not healthcare reform. It’s only healthcare insurance reform. It addresses the undeniably important issues of who is going to pay and how, but completely misses the point of why.
Healthcare costs too much in our country because we deliver too much healthcare. We deliver too much because we demand too much. And we demand it for all the wrong reasons. We’re turning into a nation of anxious wimps.

At a time when we have an unprecedented obsession with health – Dr. Oz, The Doctors, Oprah and a host of daytime talk shows make the smallest issues seem like apocalyptic pandemics – we have substandard national wellness. This is largely because the media focuses on the exotic and the sensational and ignores the mundane. Our society has warped our perception of true risk. We are taught to fear vaccinations, mold, shark attacks, airplanes and breast implants when we really should worry about smoking, drug abuse, obesity, cars and basic hygiene. If you go by pharmaceutical advertisement budgets, our most critical health needs are to have sex and fall asleep.

Somehow we have developed an expectation that our health should always be perfect, and if it isn’t, there should be a pill to fix it. With every ache and sniffle we run to the doctor, or purchase useless quackery such as Airborne or homeopathic cures (to the tune of tens of billions of dollars). We demand unnecessary diagnostic testing, antibiotics for our viruses, narcotics for bruises and sprains. And due to time constraints on physicians, fear of lawsuits and the pressure to keep patients satisfied, we usually get them.

Treating a Nation of Anxious Wimps

 

[Trajan]

A pretty good read.

It’s obvious to me that despite all the furor and rancor, what is being debated in Washington currently is not healthcare reform. It’s only healthcare insurance reform. It addresses the undeniably important issues of who is going to pay and how, but completely misses the point of why.
Healthcare costs too much in our country because we deliver too much healthcare. We deliver too much because we demand too much. And we demand it for all the wrong reasons. We’re turning into a nation of anxious wimps.

At a time when we have an unprecedented obsession with health – Dr. Oz, The Doctors, Oprah and a host of daytime talk shows make the smallest issues seem like apocalyptic pandemics – we have substandard national wellness. This is largely because the media focuses on the exotic and the sensational and ignores the mundane. Our society has warped our perception of true risk. We are taught to fear vaccinations, mold, shark attacks, airplanes and breast implants when we really should worry about smoking, drug abuse, obesity, cars and basic hygiene. If you go by pharmaceutical advertisement budgets, our most critical health needs are to have sex and fall asleep.

Somehow we have developed an expectation that our health should always be perfect, and if it isn’t, there should be a pill to fix it. With every ache and sniffle we run to the doctor, or purchase useless quackery such as Airborne or homeopathic cures (to the tune of tens of billions of dollars). We demand unnecessary diagnostic testing, antibiotics for our viruses, narcotics for bruises and sprains. And due to time constraints on physicians, fear of lawsuits and the pressure to keep patients satisfied, we usually get them.

Treating a Nation of Anxious Wimps

good read.

I loved this;

In a single night I had patients come in for the following complaints (all brought by ambulance): “Smoked marijuana and got dizzy”, “stung by a bee and it hurts”, “got drunk and have a hangover”, “sat out in the sun and got sunburn”, “ate Mexican food and threw up”, “picked my nose and it bled, but now it stopped”, “just had sex and want to know if I’m pregnant.”


I worked in an emergency room as a security goon for 18 months. I remember a story from an EMT as to a call he and his partner took; stomach pains, when they pulled up they were 4 cars in the homes driveway, a 10 minute trip from home to hospital.

The stomach pains? gas. due to? eating spicy food. cost for the ride? $400.00. billed to? you know who.......

 

[geauxtohell]

A pretty good read.

It’s obvious to me that despite all the furor and rancor, what is being debated in Washington currently is not healthcare reform. It’s only healthcare insurance reform. It addresses the undeniably important issues of who is going to pay and how, but completely misses the point of why.
Healthcare costs too much in our country because we deliver too much healthcare. We deliver too much because we demand too much. And we demand it for all the wrong reasons. We’re turning into a nation of anxious wimps.

At a time when we have an unprecedented obsession with health – Dr. Oz, The Doctors, Oprah and a host of daytime talk shows make the smallest issues seem like apocalyptic pandemics – we have substandard national wellness. This is largely because the media focuses on the exotic and the sensational and ignores the mundane. Our society has warped our perception of true risk. We are taught to fear vaccinations, mold, shark attacks, airplanes and breast implants when we really should worry about smoking, drug abuse, obesity, cars and basic hygiene. If you go by pharmaceutical advertisement budgets, our most critical health needs are to have sex and fall asleep.

Somehow we have developed an expectation that our health should always be perfect, and if it isn’t, there should be a pill to fix it. With every ache and sniffle we run to the doctor, or purchase useless quackery such as Airborne or homeopathic cures (to the tune of tens of billions of dollars). We demand unnecessary diagnostic testing, antibiotics for our viruses, narcotics for bruises and sprains. And due to time constraints on physicians, fear of lawsuits and the pressure to keep patients satisfied, we usually get them.

Treating a Nation of Anxious Wimps

good read.

I loved this;

In a single night I had patients come in for the following complaints (all brought by ambulance): “Smoked marijuana and got dizzy”, “stung by a bee and it hurts”, “got drunk and have a hangover”, “sat out in the sun and got sunburn”, “ate Mexican food and threw up”, “picked my nose and it bled, but now it stopped”, “just had sex and want to know if I’m pregnant.”


I worked in an emergency room as a security goon for 18 months. I remember a story from an EMT as to a call he and his partner took; stomach pains, when they pulled up they were 4 cars in the homes driveway, a 10 minute trip from home to hospital.

The stomach pains? gas. due to? eating spicy food. cost for the ride? $400.00. billed to? you know who.......

It's definitely a problem.

People are using EDs as their primary care facilities, and that is a huge mistakes. EDs are not for primary care.

It's understandable if people have no access too care. EDs are just currently soaking up a lot of the patient load. It's annoying (and detrimental to your health) if people do it out of neglect.

Also annoying: the frequent fliers who knew the system and called EMS to try and avoid the waiting room and jump triage by getting "roomed".

Though, most EDs are wise to this trick. I've seen people arrive on ambulance and get directed to the waiting room.

 

[Trajan]

A pretty good read.





Treating a Nation of Anxious Wimps

good read.

I loved this;

In a single night I had patients come in for the following complaints (all brought by ambulance): “Smoked marijuana and got dizzy”, “stung by a bee and it hurts”, “got drunk and have a hangover”, “sat out in the sun and got sunburn”, “ate Mexican food and threw up”, “picked my nose and it bled, but now it stopped”, “just had sex and want to know if I’m pregnant.”


I worked in an emergency room as a security goon for 18 months. I remember a story from an EMT as to a call he and his partner took; stomach pains, when they pulled up they were 4 cars in the homes driveway, a 10 minute trip from home to hospital.

The stomach pains? gas. due to? eating spicy food. cost for the ride? $400.00. billed to? you know who.......

It's definitely a problem.

People are using EDs as their primary care facilities, and that is a huge mistakes. EDs are not for primary care.

It's understandable if people have no access too care. EDs are just currently soaking up a lot of the patient load. It's annoying (and detrimental to your health) if people do it out of neglect.

Also annoying: the frequent fliers who knew the system and called EMS to try and avoid the waiting room and jump triage by getting "roomed".

Though, most EDs are wise to this trick. I've seen people arrive on ambulance and get directed to the waiting room.

agreed....and another blurb-

we had a guy named L____....came in every single Sunday night, he was an alcoholic. DT's, couldn't sleep, wouldn't eat, he would come in and expect us to detox him, IV and ativan so he could get up to go to work etc etc...when I left he had at least, oh, 20 weeks under his belt that I was aware of.Unreal.

 

[lizzie]

I agree completely with the author. We have become a nation of anxious wimps who are afraid of their own shadows. We (collectively) run to the doctor or ER for every little ache, pain, and sniffle, and we want a pill to cure every change in our psyche or if we are farting too much. It's pretty disgusting to me personally, to see a formerly great nation of tough individualists reduced to the sobbing babies that are using up the resources like there's no tomorrow.

How in the hell do people think folks used to handle being depressed or anxious, or having joint pain from working and growing old? They just dealt with it.

 

[geauxtohell]

good read.

I loved this;

In a single night I had patients come in for the following complaints (all brought by ambulance): “Smoked marijuana and got dizzy”, “stung by a bee and it hurts”, “got drunk and have a hangover”, “sat out in the sun and got sunburn”, “ate Mexican food and threw up”, “picked my nose and it bled, but now it stopped”, “just had sex and want to know if I’m pregnant.”


I worked in an emergency room as a security goon for 18 months. I remember a story from an EMT as to a call he and his partner took; stomach pains, when they pulled up they were 4 cars in the homes driveway, a 10 minute trip from home to hospital.

The stomach pains? gas. due to? eating spicy food. cost for the ride? $400.00. billed to? you know who.......

It's definitely a problem.

People are using EDs as their primary care facilities, and that is a huge mistakes. EDs are not for primary care.

It's understandable if people have no access too care. EDs are just currently soaking up a lot of the patient load. It's annoying (and detrimental to your health) if people do it out of neglect.

Also annoying: the frequent fliers who knew the system and called EMS to try and avoid the waiting room and jump triage by getting "roomed".

Though, most EDs are wise to this trick. I've seen people arrive on ambulance and get directed to the waiting room.

agreed....and another blurb-

we had a guy named L____....came in every single Sunday night, he was an alcoholic. DT's, couldn't sleep, wouldn't eat, he would come in and expect us to detox him, IV and ativan so he could get up to go to work etc etc...when I left he had at least, oh, 20 weeks under his belt that I was aware of.Unreal.

Hmm. It usually takes 3-5 days to detox an alcoholic. A classic board vignette is how to manage a patient who was admitted 3-5 days ago for surgery (or whatever) and this morning is hallucinating, developed tremors, and is sweating. The trick is to spot the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal and recognize the person is an alcoholic who has been away from their booze for three days and is going through DTs and give them ativan.

If you don't see it on a board question, you'll see it on inpatient medicine. I know I did. Though, DTs will kill some people. It's a dangerous pathology.

However, after multiple admits, that's a "TURF" to psych issue.

 

[auditor0007]

Funny how so many people worry about every little thing, but I bet very few of them know what their normal blood pressure and resting heart rate are, and I doubt they have a clue what their cholesterol and blood glucose levels are.

 

[Mr. H.]

We are taught to fear vaccinations, mold, shark attacks, airplanes and breast implants when we really should worry about smoking, drug abuse, obesity, cars and basic hygiene. If you go by pharmaceutical advertisement budgets, our most critical health needs are to have sex and fall asleep.

Marketing at its finest.

 

[editec]

Some truth to this.

But the major problems are an aging population and late life HC that actually works.

 

[strollingbones]

We’ve become a nation of hypochondriacs. Every sneeze is swine flu, every headache a tumor. And at great expense, we deliver fantastically prompt, thorough and largely unnecessary care. There is tremendous financial pressure on physicians to keep patients happy. But unlike business, in medicine the customer isn’t always right. Sometimes a doctor needs to show tough love and deny patients the quick fix. A good physician needs to have the guts to stand up to people and tell them that their baby gets ear infections because they smoke cigarettes. That it’s time to admit they are alcoholics. That they need to suck it up and deal with discomfort because narcotics will just make everything worse. That what’s really wrong with them is that they are just too damned fat. Unfortunately, this type of advice rarely leads to high patient satisfaction scores.


the net contributes to this mal......i do a search on projectile vomiting.....comes back with brain tumor...wtf? i am pretty sure i dont need an mri...since the hubby is now sick.....

but people get on the net and suddenly they become fearful....i worked in er admitting.....one night about 3 am ..the er doctor is sound asleep.....there is nothing going on ...this is a real small town....a guy comes in....huffing....needs a wheelchair for his g/f in the car....big emergency....well we get the wheel chair and go out to the ambulance bay where he has pulled up like a race car driver....she is sitting in car crying her eyes out....damn me and the nurse look at each other.....wondering what is wrong with her.....she had a broken toe

by the time the very grumpy er doctor finished manipulating that toe...she was screaming....he just keep twisting it and asking her if that hurt.....then he taped it to the toe next to it...

 

[strollingbones]

but on the other hand....i have optical migraines....try to get a doctor to even see me....go on try...they think migraines are just drug users excuses....well guess what....they are not....but here is what many doctors dont get...there is no treatment for optical migraines....no drugs....i would just like a family doctor.....but they wont accept me when they hear i have optical migraines..they are not taking new patients but oddly when my son calls with his swollen knee...they are taking new patients

 

[Douger]

A pretty good read.

It’s obvious to me that despite all the furor and rancor, what is being debated in Washington currently is not healthcare reform. It’s only healthcare insurance reform. It addresses the undeniably important issues of who is going to pay and how, but completely misses the point of why.
Healthcare costs too much in our country because we deliver too much healthcare. We deliver too much because we demand too much. And we demand it for all the wrong reasons. We’re turning into a nation of anxious wimps.

At a time when we have an unprecedented obsession with health – Dr. Oz, The Doctors, Oprah and a host of daytime talk shows make the smallest issues seem like apocalyptic pandemics – we have substandard national wellness. This is largely because the media focuses on the exotic and the sensational and ignores the mundane. Our society has warped our perception of true risk. We are taught to fear vaccinations, mold, shark attacks, airplanes and breast implants when we really should worry about smoking, drug abuse, obesity, cars and basic hygiene. If you go by pharmaceutical advertisement budgets, our most critical health needs are to have sex and fall asleep.

Somehow we have developed an expectation that our health should always be perfect, and if it isn’t, there should be a pill to fix it. With every ache and sniffle we run to the doctor, or purchase useless quackery such as Airborne or homeopathic cures (to the tune of tens of billions of dollars). We demand unnecessary diagnostic testing, antibiotics for our viruses, narcotics for bruises and sprains. And due to time constraints on physicians, fear of lawsuits and the pressure to keep patients satisfied, we usually get them.

Treating a Nation of Anxious Wimps

good read.

I loved this;

In a single night I had patients come in for the following complaints (all brought by ambulance): “Smoked marijuana and got dizzy”, “stung by a bee and it hurts”, “got drunk and have a hangover”, “sat out in the sun and got sunburn”, “ate Mexican food and threw up”, “picked my nose and it bled, but now it stopped”, “just had sex and want to know if I’m pregnant.”


I worked in an emergency room as a security goon for 18 months. I remember a story from an EMT as to a call he and his partner took; stomach pains, when they pulled up they were 4 cars in the homes driveway, a 10 minute trip from home to hospital.

The stomach pains? gas. due to? eating spicy food. cost for the ride? $400.00. billed to? you know who.......

Say hello to them at the voting booth.

 

[strollingbones]

A pretty good read.





Treating a Nation of Anxious Wimps

good read.

I loved this;

In a single night I had patients come in for the following complaints (all brought by ambulance): “Smoked marijuana and got dizzy”, “stung by a bee and it hurts”, “got drunk and have a hangover”, “sat out in the sun and got sunburn”, “ate Mexican food and threw up”, “picked my nose and it bled, but now it stopped”, “just had sex and want to know if I’m pregnant.”


I worked in an emergency room as a security goon for 18 months. I remember a story from an EMT as to a call he and his partner took; stomach pains, when they pulled up they were 4 cars in the homes driveway, a 10 minute trip from home to hospital.

The stomach pains? gas. due to? eating spicy food. cost for the ride? $400.00. billed to? you know who.......

Say hello to them at the voting booth.

ouch

 

[editec]

but on the other hand....i have optical migraines....try to get a doctor to even see me....go on try...they think migraines are just drug users excuses....well guess what....they are not....but here is what many doctors dont get...there is no treatment for optical migraines....no drugs....i would just like a family doctor.....but they wont accept me when they hear i have optical migraines..they are not taking new patients but oddly when my son calls with his swollen knee...they are taking new patients

I get them, too. They ONLY hope is to immediately shut off you eyes from all light and wait it out. Usually the "squigglies" go awy after an hour or so. If I try to push through it, and continue using my eyes I get a SPLITING headache that can last for days

How bad is it? OXI doesn't stop the pain!

Get checked for excessive ocular pressure.

Seriously, I suspect that's the cause and that additional ocular pressure puts you at serious risk for glucoma, too.

 

[Katzndogz]

I took my husband to the ER when he collapsed at the mall. I drove him myself. As we were waiting I couldn't help but take note of the complaints. Most of them were headaches. There was a stubbed toe, a nail cut too close to the quick and bled a drop, a few crying babies. One memorable couple who didn't think their orgasm was satisfactory!

Fortunately the hospital had a fast track with a separate policy for those who really needed emergency care.

Yes we are anxious wimps who have a right to never having a pain or an inconvenience.

 

[saveliberty]

I'll give you something to go to the doctor with...

 

[geauxtohell]

but on the other hand....i have optical migraines....try to get a doctor to even see me....go on try...they think migraines are just drug users excuses....well guess what....they are not....but here is what many doctors dont get...there is no treatment for optical migraines....no drugs....i would just like a family doctor.....but they wont accept me when they hear i have optical migraines..they are not taking new patients but oddly when my son calls with his swollen knee...they are taking new patients

FWIW, I think physicians don't like migraines because they feel helpless to treat them and that makes anyone feel bad. It's a degree of countertransference.

Everyone has their migraine treatment. I know a lot of people use compazine + fluid + benadryl. That doesn't work all the time every time and it requires an IV.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I took my husband to the ER when he collapsed at the mall. I drove him myself. As we were waiting I couldn't help but take note of the complaints. Most of them were headaches. There was a stubbed toe, a nail cut too close to the quick and bled a drop, a few crying babies. One memorable couple who didn't think their orgasm was satisfactory!

Fortunately the hospital had a fast track with a separate policy for those who really needed emergency care.

Yes we are anxious wimps who have a right to never having a pain or an inconvenience.

I was at the ER the weekend before Christmas with a friend (he had a dislocated shoulder). I couldn't even TELL what, if anything, was wrong with most of the people in the waiting room. They looked and acted completely fine to me (except for wearing pajamas in public). The exception was the little old lady next to me, who had somehow sustained quite a long cut along her chin and neck. Blood everywhere. Don't know how deep it was.

I do remember that the girl who was in the examining area next to my friend was there because she had ingested a bunch of drugs at a party, and when she became really drowsy and non-responsive, her friend brought her in.

 

[strollingbones]

but on the other hand....i have optical migraines....try to get a doctor to even see me....go on try...they think migraines are just drug users excuses....well guess what....they are not....but here is what many doctors dont get...there is no treatment for optical migraines....no drugs....i would just like a family doctor.....but they wont accept me when they hear i have optical migraines..they are not taking new patients but oddly when my son calls with his swollen knee...they are taking new patients

I get them, too. They ONLY hope is to immediately shut off you eyes from all light and wait it out. Usually the "squigglies" go awy after an hour or so. If I try to push through it, and continue using my eyes I get a SPLITING headache that can last for days

How bad is it? OXI doesn't stop the pain!

Get checked for excessive ocular pressure.

Seriously, I suspect that's the cause and that additional ocular pressure puts you at serious risk for glucoma, too.

once the first arches of light start....i have about 15 minutes to get to the dark.....before my entire field of vision is full of the squiqqlies as you call them.....good term really.....people dont understand that type of blindness.....if i am more than 15 minutes from a dark room and bed...i have to call someone to come get me...the first time it happened...it scared me to death.....now its just taking care of getting to the dark as safely as possible....my biggest fear......i get trapped somewhere and have to endure the whole thing.....in public or the light

 

[strollingbones]

in reality i know i would simply check into the nearest hotel till it passed