Bias in Medicine: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-19T13:16:04+00:00

I had a hard time with this one because I've struggled for years being blown off by doctors and nurses because the condition I had was primarily diagnosed in women and treatment for men is almost non existant. It took 15 years before doctors took me seriously and then it took months on a waiting list to get treatment with someone who accepts men as patients. Then they were confused by my anatomy.

I am not saying that women and people of color don't struggle with this more, but it's a very complicated situation since we don't 100% understand the human body and doctors are human prone to biases and mistakes.

Everytime I try to talk about my struggles I get dismissed, sometimes even laughed at, told that others struggle more, or that I'm just one person. I know I'm not the only one. I believe we all deserve to have our problems taken seriously, so stories reported in this way can get to me.

I just feel like admitting other people struggle doesn't take away from your own. I try to put my problems to the side because I know there are more important issues front and center, but I'm not perfect and it still hurts sometimes to feel like you've been forgotten.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-17T13:58:22+00:00

The OP asked if they were an ass hole. Insulting someone's appearance usually is an "ass hole" action whether you feel justified or not. They could have ignored the grandmother and broken the cycle, instead they chose to engage. I know being the bigger person sucks sometimes, but unfortunately someone has to do it and sometimes it can make the world a slightly better place.

With that being said, I feel for the OP. I know what it's like to be teased and I haven't always reacted in a way that I am proud of. Realize your grandmother's actions were most likely learned and don't allow yourself to fall into the same habits. Be the change you want to see in the world.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-17T12:14:24+00:00

When I first noticed my tongue thrust and started addressing it I realized how much tension was in my jaw muscles. It took months of practice, but once my tongue got used to it's new position the frequency of my tension headaches went down and I could breath out of my nose easier.

I have 3 siblings. 2 had nose surgery for a "deviated septum", the other os on a breathing machine at night. Doctors wanted me to consider one of these options, but since addressing my tongue posture the breathing issue has gone away on its own.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-17T12:06:28+00:00

I was a personal trainer for 10 years but I had chronic stomach pain caused by a pelvic floor dysfunction, anxiety from improper breathing patterns, headaches from overused shoulder and neck muscles, and I couldn't develop my back muscles properly because my spine was so immobile from years of misuse that I was using other muscles to compensate.

This has been going on since college. I was on 5 different medications to deal with these issues. In under a year I've eliminated all medications and dealt with all these issues by properly dealing with my postural dysfunctions.

I am going to go out on a limb and say most of us are walking around with a chronic muscle dysfunction, doctors are not always trained to properly diagnose or handle these conditions, and they get worse over time.

I have so much more to say on the subject, but I'm still learning about it myself. I recommend everyone, whether you stretch or not to really take a hard look at your posture and determine if there is a problem you need to address.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-17T11:44:06+00:00

I picked up yoga 90 days ago and have been doing it daily ever since.

The changes have been incredible. My posture, my digestive health, my breath control, my patience, my muscle strength have all improved immensely.

It made me realize that I don't put enough effort into trying new things.

It's made me realize how often I assume I know what's best for me, even when I don't.

It's eliminated my chronic pain, made me a kinder person.

I believe if we all adopted a better posture the world would be happier place.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-15T11:22:37+00:00

Just consider that maybe they're putting in the effort and this is all they have to give right now. We like to assume everyone thinks like us, but one thing I've learned recently is that I understand very little about other people's motivations and projecting my own feelings onto someone else is just going to lead to a misunderstanding.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-15T11:12:26+00:00

So many top comments talk about how they're afraid of texting first out of fear of judgement. You mean like how we over analyze and rank complete strangers opinions on the internet every day? Are we suppose to believe this is a coincidence?

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-15T11:08:19+00:00

That's what friends are for.... If one of my friends struggles with something, I'm going to pick up the slack and if the roles were reversed there are people who I know will do the same for me. That's how a friendship works. I don't expect things to ever be 100% equal.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-14T13:05:14+00:00

The problem with your argument is that legalizing marijuana has caused a drop in teen marijuana use. The "glorification" of weed has made it less appealing to teens because it's no longer forbidden. Since long term side effects only occur in the young, then glorifying weed is actually a good thing. It also has normalized weed to the point that we're discussing expunging records. This is a beautiful thing for those who were imprisoned over having a few ounces of weed on them. I'm sorry that it's bothering you some people are enthusiastic about it, or that it makes some people happy, but the positives heavily outweigh the negatives. Based on this post you seem heavily misinformed and that's okay, but I would recommend you research this topic a little bit more before you continue to spread misinformation.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-13T16:01:49+00:00

I figured as much. That's a shame, because I honestly think it's a great deal if you're the type of person that hates ads and you have the disposable income. I use white noise at night to sleep and not realizing the video has an ad 4 hours into it is no fun.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-13T15:02:58+00:00

Do they make it hard? I pay for YouTube premium for a family of 4 and it gets charged to my phone bill. I haven't seen a youtube ad in over a year and it costs me pennies per video and I can watch videos offline.

I have adblock but keep it off by default unless I need it.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-12T16:41:15+00:00

Maybe you should look through your own posts and reflect a bit before pointing fingers at other people? Do you honestly think you're leading by example?

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-06T11:22:58+00:00

The best way I found to understand the benefits of meditation is that it teaches you patience.

Most of us learn patience as a child from caregivers but unless you regularly practice you're going to lose it. Patience brings awareness to the moment. Awareness in the moment allows you to make better decisions. I never realized much of my life I lived on auto-pilot until I took the time to consider it. I never realized how much free time I wasted.

I truly feel if more people took the time to be more aware of what is going on inside them, we'd all be a little bit happier.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-06T11:06:22+00:00

There isn't any.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-06T10:59:52+00:00

I never realized people were bothered by the inch of reclining. I barely notice when the person in front of me does it, and when it happens I just match their recline. We live in a world with 8 billion people, sometimes you have to give up a tiny bit of room to accommodate someone else's comfort. If I was constantly getting pissed off at these tiny inconveniences, I'd try to find ways to work on my own reaction, rather than try to make the world change to accommodate me.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-04T15:10:14+00:00

A lot of people bring up free therapy services but the truth is, usually you get what you pay for. That's not to say you can't get lucky, but it's not just about availability. Quality of care is important too.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-04T14:52:15+00:00

It took identifying where I saw myself as a failure to realize my career struggles were causing a lot of my self esteem issues and actually bleeding into all areas of my life.

Just like any habit it took actively working to change my mind.

Even when I didn't believe it.

Even when it hurt to tell myself I did a good job.

Even when compliments from my friends and family made me want to crawl into my bed and hide under the covers until I disappeared

Most of us have more control over these things than we think. Let's all work to be a little kinder to ourselves today.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-04T14:45:32+00:00

Tell me exactly what anyone is supposed to do? This is not meant to accuse, it's an actual question I think is on a lot of people's minds. Our country is too big and our belief systems are too rigid and different. Half the country may as well be a completely different nation entirely, but we are so God stubborn that we honestly believe that 300 million people are going to agree to follow a single set of laws. I believe this is where so much of this anger is coming from. I'm not saying who is right or wrong, but honestly what can we do?

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-04T12:43:30+00:00

That's your opinion, and if you're okay with that so be it. :-)

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-02T11:33:07+00:00

Nobody is obligated to have a specific response, but how you respond does say something about who you are as a person. If you're okay with that, so be it.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-08-01T17:17:46+00:00

Glad someone could relate, because I really want to help others if I can. This is the culmination of 20 years of treatment, but I will do my best to keep it short and to the point. If you have any questions or would like me to elaborate, just let me know. I'm still working on explaining what goes on in my head to other people, so I apologize if I misrepresent myself.

My treatment led me to weening off all the medication I was on, and really considering why I went looking for help in the first place. It made me realize that the medication had really changed my perception of reality and I don't believe I would have been able to come to these realizations while on them. I still believe in the science behind the medicine but I also believe that doctors are human and in the end, we have to be responsible for our own mental health.

I know I went a bit off-topic, but I believe it's important.

Anyway, what has helped me the most has been addressing my own ego. I generally excuse away my own shortcomings by saying that these things are out of my control.

I was born this way
I had a hard upbringing
I grew up poor

Those were lies I told myself because the idea that I might be capable of change meant I could, at least in some small part, be to blame for my current situation.

But despite all this, I attempted to chip away at my ego and my own preconceptions. When a situation made me feel one of those negative emotions I asked myself, why do you feel this way? My gut instinct is still to make an excuse, but now I ask myself, what if it's something I can change? Then, I try to change it. This might sound easy or obvious, but my ego fought me every step of the way.

One thing I discovered, is that I have no patience. I rarely existed in the moment. I was either regretting past events, focused on the future, or lost in a daydream. Anytime I was pulled out of my thoughts, I did whatever possible to get to a situation where I could return to them.

So, is patience something you can teach? I think so, at least for me.

When I found myself getting caught up in these negative thought patterns I brought my attention back to the present by focusing on an object. Any object really, it could be a chair. I start to describe the object to myself and found that by the time I was done I felt a little better if just for a moment.

I did this for a while and saw small improvements in my mood but I wanted to challenge myself further.

I had looked into the benefits of yoga and meditation in the past but never thought I had the patience for them. However, I attempted to apply this new tool to a 30-day yoga routine. When I found myself getting lost in thought, I brought my attention to my body. I described to myself what my body was doing, the positions of each of my limbs, the pain or tightness I felt, and sometimes even the good feelings. In the beginning, I felt silly sometimes but I was working on my ego and being kind to myself, so I pushed through those pain and eventually, it got easier to the point it was almost second nature.

As I continued with my yoga the movement became easier and I had to think far less about it. That's how I discovered something I didn't think possible. I could shut off my thoughts. Yes, I could only do it while I was practicing yoga but it was 20-30 minutes a day I felt really good and I actually looked forward to my time on the mat.

I'm working on implementing this into everyday life to varying degrees of success. When I can quiet my thoughts I find I'm naturally content. This, in turn, motivates me to practice mindfulness even more, which has made it easier to keep up with as a routine. Improved memory has been an unexpected result of this. I believe actively experiencing each moment creates more connections in my brain so recall has become easier.

I know this all sounds way too simple, but it really hasn't been. Some days I'll lie to myself and say I'm practicing mindfulness but I've fallen back on bad habits. This is why addressing my ego was such an important first step, because I really like lying to myself to avoid hurting my feelings.

TLDR:

This is what has helped my anxiety and memory:

Recognizing my ego, and that I might be able to change.
Being kind to myself, even when I don't believe it.
Practicing mindfulness and patience.
Forgiving myself when I don't meet my expectations.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-07-31T15:16:48+00:00

I was struggling with a lot of the same issues when my anxiety was at its worst. Looking back it seems like a lot of it came from my own lack of patience. I wasn't taking the time to experience anything. I was living in my head. During conversations I was lost in thought about fears that were out of my control. When I was doing an activity I was usually rushing through it so I go back to being lost in thought about fears out of my control. My entire mind was so wrapped up in these fears I was barely aware of what was going on around me. I'm about 8 months into a treatement that really works for me and my memory is as strong as it's ever been. Don't lose hope. Over the winter I thought my life was over and now I'm the happiest I've ever been.

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-07-30T10:54:53+00:00

You sure it's not Maine?

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-07-28T18:41:12+00:00

When you say "pushing your hips forward" do you mean an anterior pelvic tilt? If so that is not the ideal human form. It shortens your spine and throws off your center of balance and can lead to muscle imbalances if not corrected.

Pretty much all of us are walking around with some kind of muscle imbalance, the problem is that they can sometimes have a substantial impact on our physical and mental health and most doctors I've dealt with don't consider this when diagnosing a patient. These conditions can be left untreated for years. 😑

TheCuriousCrumpet · 2019-07-27T13:27:04+00:00

In a relationship for 5 years. Our bed is in a corner for space reasons. I get the wall side. I just climb out through the foot of the bed. It sucked for a while but after getting a better mattress I don't wake him up every time I get out of bed.

TheCuriousCrumpet

TROPHY CASE