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Why Must Everything Be a Medical Condition? (no guns or fracking)

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A couple salient points from the article...

Quote

A medical condition is a badge, absolving the wearer of any responsibility to deal with a problem, requiring in its place sympathy, compassion and support from the state...

...In many cases, medication seems to be more about making life easier for the parent than relieving symptoms for the benefit of the child.



I think changes in diet and lifestyle (brought on by a myriad of reasons) amongst parents and kids alike combined with a sort of bizarre marketed hypochondria fuel this as well.

It would be nice if instead of seeing commercials for a weight loss medical procedure that listed "poor diet" and "lack of exercise" at the end of the list of possible reasons that you're fat (after "stress at work" which is especially curious as I lose weight if anything when stressed out.) we saw commercials that asked, "Do your kids seem hyperactive relative to how active you can remember ever being? That's because they're kids, you fed them sugar, and all you do is drive between your couch and your desk."

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Money. Which comes down to politics. Which comes down not only to "it's not my fault" but also, "somebody else can take care of it." Which becomes "somebody else should take care of it." And ultimately becomes, "we should make someone else takae care of it."

I'm a former fat ass. Obesity certainly runs in my family. One of the things I find interesting about the whole "genetics" thing is that it is so highly rhetorical. It's as if alcoholism and obesity are immutable characteristics like being born black or albino or with spina bifida.

It is the deliberate failure to explain the difference between genotype and phenotype. Hey, maybe alcoholism is like pigment - some people have a genotype that allows them to tan. Others, like me, do not. But phenotype is an expression of the genotype - the response to the environment. So tanning is unhealthy? Being born with the ability to tan does not mean one has to. The stupid tanning lady in jersey didn't say, "I can't help it. I was born with the gene that makes me tan." But this same reasoning is being used over and over.

There's something to be said about a patologizing everything. It breeds a victim mentality. Which, of course, is beneficial to things like governments.

How does one build power? It can either be by strengthening oneself. Or, by weakening everyone else.


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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lawrocket

Money.



Winner.

I DO agree with points made above that having a "medical condition" has become a badge that many are now PROUD to wear. It makes one special, worthy of pity and attention because if it's a condition it isn't your fault, it was a cross you were forced to bear. But that being said, it's all about money. Once a medical condition has a name, medications can be invented to fix it and it can be coded to be claimed on insurance claims.

Elvisio "I would like to add (no Obamacare) if permitted" Rodriguez

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I'll just reply to last comment.

Thanks for your well thought out responses. I agree with you. I think the Money is a large driving force as well as shifting responsibility to an illness. There are lots of other "modern" illnesses that fall into this category - Asperger's anybody that s socially a little awkward has Asperger's.

I would also argue that depression falls into this category, while I do recognize that depression can be a very serious issue. And anybody who knows somebody that committed suicide because of depression (I do) will probably chime in scream otherwise. Yet I think a lot people with a beginning depression would benefit more from routine excersize and a routine daily life than they do from medication...

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Agreed. Obesity is not a disease and neither is alcoholism.

Soon everybody will be diseased, I can't go without eating for more than 9 hours and that's not a disease pathology. A disease is a physical malfunction of the body. So for example, the need to breathe air is not a disease. However, a bodily malfunction that limits your ability to breathe air is a disease.

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How about bodily malfunctions that increase the pleasure receptors when exposed to drink and/or drugs combined with bodily malfunctions that tend to depression?

How about bodily malfunctions that lead to differences in the absorption of food?

It's gray, and it's slippery. Too many people now are "big boned" [:/], but to say that all cases are just sloth is also wrong.

Maybe it's why we should treat people as individuals, rather than classes, groups, genders, races, ethnicities, religions, or skydiving disciplines of choice :)
Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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I don't disagree that they are or could be diseases. My problem is with diseases that people bring upon themselves being treated as accident-of-birth congenital defects. I'm as pale white as they get. That means that I have to avoid the sun or face a disease. I eat right to avoid other problems.

Alcoholism is a disease that it brought on by choice. Smack addicts start off by that first injection. Crackheads and tweakers start off by smoking crak or tweaking.

We've got people GIVING THEMSELVES diseases. Then we enable them to be diseased by giving them an out. It's not your fault. But the government is there to help. We'll cover you.

And we wonder why healthcare costs are rising... :S



My wife is hotter than your wife.

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wmw999

How about bodily malfunctions that increase the pleasure receptors when exposed to drink and/or drugs combined with bodily malfunctions that tend to depression?



That's a theory cannot be tested. I can't just say "I'm perfect I've never made a mistake so when I take a drink it's not caused by a molecule, but when you have a drink it's caused by a molecule" There's no way for you to prove your molecules are NOT causing you to drink. If fails the scientific criteria of testability/falsifiability.

Also, to the above post, alcoholism is 'believed' by some to be a disease, it is not a fact. Very important to separate opinion from fact.

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chemist

***How about bodily malfunctions that increase the pleasure receptors when exposed to drink and/or drugs combined with bodily malfunctions that tend to depression?



That's a theory cannot be tested. I can't just say "I'm perfect I've never made a mistake so when I take a drink it's not caused by a molecule, but when you have a drink it's caused by a molecule" There's no way for you to prove your molecules are NOT causing you to drink. If fails the scientific criteria of testability/falsifiability.

Also, to the above post, alcoholism is 'believed' by some to be a disease, it is not a fact. Very important to separate opinion from fact.

First off that would be a hypothesis, not a theory. And just because you put believed inside quotation marks to emphasize your thoughts on this topic, it doesn't make the scientific research obsolete. Elbows and assholes I guess.

What concerns me about a large portion of this country is their willingness to allow their small world view shape their beliefs in the face of facts. What is worse is that when presented with facts they become more stubborn in their ignorance. Ironically enough, this has been proven, tested and peer reviewed as well.



Quote

In a 1992 JAMA article, the Joint Committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) published this definition for alcoholism:

“Alcoholism is a primary chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, mostly denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic.”


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you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

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ChasingBlueSky



First off that would be a hypothesis, not a theory. And just because you put believed inside quotation marks to emphasize your thoughts on this topic, it doesn't make the scientific research obsolete. Elbows and assholes I guess.

What concerns me about a large portion of this country is their willingness to allow their small world view shape their beliefs in the face of facts. What is worse is that when presented with facts they become more stubborn in their ignorance. Ironically enough, this has been proven, tested and peer reviewed as well.



You are incorrect. Diagnoses' that go into the DSM are voted into existence without peer review.

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chemist

***What concerns me about a large portion of this country is their willingness to allow their small world view shape their beliefs in the face of facts. What is worse is that when presented with facts they become more stubborn in their ignorance. Ironically enough, this has been proven, tested and peer reviewed as well.



You are incorrect. Diagnoses' that go into the DSM are voted into existence without peer review.

You misunderstood the comment. It's the phenomenon of having a bias that selects against contradictory information that has ironically been studied, peer reviewed, etc.

/edited to add: unless you're focusing on the "as well."

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champu

******What concerns me about a large portion of this country is their willingness to allow their small world view shape their beliefs in the face of facts. What is worse is that when presented with facts they become more stubborn in their ignorance. Ironically enough, this has been proven, tested and peer reviewed as well.



You are incorrect. Diagnoses' that go into the DSM are voted into existence without peer review.

You misunderstood the comment. It's the phenomenon of having a bias that selects against contradictory information that has ironically been studied, peer reviewed, etc.

/edited to add: unless you're focusing on the "as well."

Yes what you are talking about is called selection bias. There is lots of evidence that moderate drinking works, and that most problem drinkers quit on their own without treatment. This pesky data is often left out by those who regard alcoholism to be a disease.

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billvon

>Also, to the above post, alcoholism is 'believed' by some to be a disease . . .

True. It is only believed to be a disease by doctors and health professionals, while many Internet posters believe it is not.



Many doctors do not believe it is a disease, and I am a medical student soon to be a doctor.

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chemist

*********What concerns me about a large portion of this country is their willingness to allow their small world view shape their beliefs in the face of facts. What is worse is that when presented with facts they become more stubborn in their ignorance. Ironically enough, this has been proven, tested and peer reviewed as well.




You are incorrect. Diagnoses' that go into the DSM are voted into existence without peer review.

You misunderstood the comment. It's the phenomenon of having a bias that selects against contradictory information that has ironically been studied, peer reviewed, etc.

/edited to add: unless you're focusing on the "as well."

Yes what you are talking about is called selection bias. There is lots of evidence that moderate drinking works, and that most problem drinkers quit on their own without treatment. This pesky data is often left out by those who regard alcoholism to be a disease.

You should look up confirmation bias.
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you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

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[Reply]Many doctors do not believe it is a disease



Of course. Many doctors believe that homosexuality should have not been taken out of the DSM. But alcohol has section F.10 in the ICD-10. This tells me that theer is a difference in opinion (as medicine has). And the WHO has a bit of say in it.


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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lawrocket

[Reply]Many doctors do not believe it is a disease



Of course. Many doctors believe that homosexuality should have not been taken out of the DSM. But alcohol has section F.10 in the ICD-10. This tells me that theer is a difference in opinion (as medicine has). And the WHO has a bit of say in it.



Not sure what you are trying to say here.

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What I'm saying is that a greater-than-negligible portion of the medical community views it as a disease. And if a dx can be made of ETOH dependency and a billing code exists, I can't see many physicians deciding not to get paid due to their objection to the inclusion as a disease.


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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lawrocket

What I'm saying is that a greater-than-negligible portion of the medical community views it as a disease. And if a dx can be made of ETOH dependency and a billing code exists, I can't see many physicians deciding not to get paid due to their objection to the inclusion as a disease.



Getting paid is certainly of concern. But OB/GYN's get paid and we don't consider being pregnant a disease.

Mental problems will always exist, it's possible to treat a person as an individual, take into account environment and other factors and still get paid a salary.

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oldwomanc6

***But this thread should really be about ADD.

ADD is not a disease either.



And... I'm neither a lawyer or doctor, so can someone explain the difference between an addiction and a disease?

A disease is a malfunction like cirrhosis of the liver that has an observable pathology. I can't ask a pathologist in autopsy to tell me if this patient here had 'socialized conduct disorder' because socialized conduct disorder is not a disease.

If you smoke marijuana once in Qatar you are considered addicted immediately. In America you have to smoke a bit of it before people start saying you are addicted. It's not that person A has a disease in Qatar but not in US, this is where the disease theory becomes hogwash. It's a cultural judgement, NOT a pathological observation.

Addiction is a dimensional, psychological problem that can be influenced by environment and other social factors. Human beings are all different with so many different life experiences, motivations, social status, physical health, occupations, family support. There is so much to a person's life to consider than just molecules.

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chemist

But this thread should really be about ADD.

ADD is not a disease either.



But it's still real, and not merely an artificial construct. The "problem" with ADD is that it's become over-diagnosed, and over-medicated, to the social detriment of (a) those who truly suffer from ADD, and (b) those ADD sufferers for whom stimulant medication is truly effectual and beneficial. This, in turn, leads to articles like in the OP, and then everyone jumps on the "ADD is bullshit" bandwagon.

The long-term effect is not just a backlash against over-diagnosis and over-prescribing; it will be an unfortunate social chilling effect in people who would benefit from diagnosis and treatment from receiving it.

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