Article: unconscious medical bias can rob people of their lives

[HowNowWhatNow]

You can register for 2 free Times articles a week. If you do this is an explanatory primer on a subject that many here have probably thought about before - what are my doctor’s biases? And will they prevent me from getting adequate medical treatment?

thetimes.co.uk/article/help...

[Delgor]

Geogeor,

Oh my, isn't this just the case - I had to battle to get an appt. with a virologist when I was told I had CFS/ME but was told it was all in my mind - now have just read about doctors who are going through the same thing with Long Covid. It really is a case of if they don't understand something it has to be the patient's fault and not because they lack the knowledge! See below

theguardian.com/society/202...

[jade_s in reply to Delgor]

Nice article, thank you. As a fellow ex-CFS'er i had the same frustration. I'm truly ashamed to say it but i have a bit of schadenfraude when i read about doctors getting long covid & not being believed by their peers. But also sadness.

[buddy99 in reply to jade_s]

Ideally every doctor should have the experience of having a debilitating health event and being treated like a patient, meaning with dismissive arrogance and/or condescendence, for a good length of time. Not all would learn from this, I'm sure, but many would and start to rebel against a system that trained and forces them to disrespect patient suffering and push them through there office in 15-minute intervals like on a conveyer belt. They would start to refuse to use their lunch break to give extra time and attention to patients, because doctors need rest and nourishment too in order to do a proper job and stay healthy. If, in significant numbers, they break down the walls of their own prison and question the system that put them there, only then can anybody hope that the healthcare system will truly start to care for the health of those who need to be cared for. As long as we are caught in the current paradigm patients are not likely to get the full attention and care they need, and doctors continue to burn out too fast and too often.

[jade_s in reply to buddy99]

very well said!

[Delgor in reply to jade_s]

I absolutely agree with you jade_s - schadenfraude was a new word for me and I had to look it up - lol! So glad to hear that you are an ex-CFS'r - so was I until a couple of years ago when things went pearshaped but ce la vie.

[jade_s in reply to Delgor]

I'm sorry to hear that. You're in the right place for good help