[danamit]

I found strangers online to be more effective than doctors, simply because they read to much on the matter, then they interact too much with you.

I basically got diagnosed online by 2 different people about 2 different issues, one is biological, and the other is mental. And they were right. This is nerds out there who read about topics constantly, way more than the average doctor, not even close. So a stranger can help.

Also depends on where you are located, doctors can be dogmatic, there is countries that give antibiotics before extracting teeth, and there is those who don't. Countries who believe ADHD can stay into adulthood and go undiagnosed, and others who believe it is impossible to have ADHD as an adult.

In the ADHD case, depends on who what countries are right, some group might be living a lie taking meds for an illness that doesn't exist, or the other group is suffering being undiagnosed with ADHD despite seeking help, the doctor just tell them its not possible to have ADHD.

I would rather research and try to solve my issues over hand my situation to the medical zeitgeist of my country. Also I am sure if I give myself days of research, thinking, talking to people, comparing situations over some doctor talking to me for 15 minutes then giving me the two meds given to everyone who enter that door (SSRIs and benzos), I might probably be up into something.

I will never stop researching my medical issues, I will never trust my doctors fully, I will always google, research, ask, ask second opinions. Some doctors care more than others, some doctors are capable more than others, you have no idea which ones the RNG gave you.

[jliptzin]

This is a great approach

[zephyrthenoble]

This isn't a video game. Your sample size of one is not indicative of the greater population. Don't cause people to mess up their health by appealing to the notion that they can do better than trained medical professionals. This is dangerous.

[chaostheory]

Unfortunately, psychiatry / psychology is currently barely a science. It still doesn’t have a repeatable theoretical model yet for some odd reason there are people who treat it as a science with real laws. Will it mature one day into a real science? Sure, but it’s dependent on several other fields maturing so it won’t be overnight. Consequently, I don’t blame anyone for doing more research or going with alternatives, especially since the economics of mental healthcare also go against the welfare of those who need it.

[aaaaaaaaata]

Congratulations on having a frankly privileged experience with the medical system.

The only thing dangerous here is you, acting like people shouldn't advocate for themselves to every extent their intelligence allows.

[sillysaurusx]

I don’t know what you hope to accomplish by saying this, but it’s not having any effect. Trained medical professionals have to handle thousands of pathologies, each with dozens of possible treatments. The search space alone should make someone at least question whether their Zocdoc is really giving it their wholehearted effort, or if they’re just doing a day job like all of us.

I agree that someone should go to the doctor. But almost everyone agrees on that, and yet very few actually go. I didn’t, for a decade, and mostly out of laziness (not going is after all the default option). Going around commanding people not to do X is only going to make them X.

[inter_netuser]

The guy who came in last in his medical class. In the worst medical school in the country.

..is somehow always better...than everyone else? Always?

Professional opinion is just that, an opinion. Opinion of potentially the worst medical student, from the worst medical school. but because they got a prescription pad, they are now smarter than anyone else in America. Got it.

Health is ultimately our own decision, and ours alone.

[ChrisRR]

The worst doctor still passed their exams, and has way more medical knowledge than the average person

I wouldn't discount design advice of a qualified engineer because of the musings of a random person, so why would I do the same for a doctor.

Too many people in this thread are just going "software developers don't know what they're talking about. I had a bad experience with software once, so no developers have a clue, they're just after money"

[inter_netuser]

Medicine drop out rates: 15-18% Engineering drop out rates: 40-50% Math drop out rates: 47%

Dumbest doctor is stupider than avg math/eng. They just tend to be less autistic on avg.

"The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) found that between 40% to 50% of engineering students drop out or change their majors."

"So, what is the dropout rate for medical school? In a standard, single four-year program, that would put the medical school dropout rate at between 15.7 percent and 18.4 percent, confirms the AAMC."

"In mathematics, the dropout rate is even higher with 47% (U.S. college dropouts show comparable numbers; Chen, 2013)."

It's ok to question and discount doctors. Plenty of incompetent practitioners out there, well protected by powerful lobby, trade union, massive liability umbrellas.

They even passed laws to reduce their own liability.

I'm sure they needed that because they are so excellent at their job, they are only the leading cause of accidental deaths.

[isbvhodnvemrwvn]

You have to complete a number of prerequisites to be considered, never mind accepted, into a medical school. For engineering the barrier is much much lower, hence the higher dropout rate.

[inter_netuser]

The prerequisites is a very American thing. Most of the world just does medicine as an undergrad, and physicians are just as good. The US pre-req system, as well as the control over residency spots is just supply management to ensure compensation remains high.

However, with supply management of physicians, comes responsibility to ensure reliabile supply to replenish ranks to avoid surprises, and thus all efforts are made to ensure that students can pass. You simply can't have 70% fewer graduates one year, and 170% next.

"With an admit rate of 7%, it is easy to understand why the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine is sometimes viewed from the outside as highly competitive."

"Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Acceptance rate - 7.3%"

If you have good memory, and not a total dolt, you can be a physician. Analytic ability is a tertiary concern.