Do shows like House MD worsen hypochondria?

[percythetrain]

Hey all, I was thinking about this after re-watching an old House episode LOL

It just seems like the show is all about diagnoses that are so difficult to discover that if it weren't for a genius such as House the patient would either get sent home by most doctors, or get misdiagnosed with something not even remotely close to what they have. It's as if the show was made to embody our worst nightmares :roflmao:

Well, that show and other medical ones like Mystery Diagnosis, which I also loved :blush::shrug:

One thing that's also common in these shows is the emphasis on the number of tests the person had done and the number of doctors they had to see before getting the actual diagnosis. It pretty much flies in the face of everything our real life doctors like to say to us: You need to trust your doctor, if he thought you were ill he would have ordered more tests or some variation thereof. :huh:

I recently saw a neurologist who seemed more interested in chatting with my mom than finding out what my problem was :doh: My mom thought he was charming LOL! He did order an MRI for me just to cover than end but said he saw no red flags and prescribed a nutritional supplement and upped my clonazepam dosage. I suppose I need to relax seeing that this is the 8th or so specialist I've seen but it's so difficult when you're exposed to stories about missed or difficult diagnoses whether real or fictional.

What do you all think? does anyone else like medical shows or documentaries? :)

[misskittie]

I used to watch House all the time but found out it totally triggered me so I had to stop. And it definitely lends to the fear of your doctor missing something and having horrible consequences. I don't know how many times I've sat here going if only I could find a doctor like House who won't rest until he finds out what's worn with me.

[swajj]

Probably

[swgrl09]

Heh, I went through a phase where I had to stop watching House because it would trigger me. For some reason I got over it after a year or so. I think I realized how ridiculous the stories were, that they weren't real, and somehow worked through it. I do like those shows. I even can watch New York Med and other "reality" med shows! So I see that as progress :)

[GoWhiteSox]

House actually makes me feel better because in that world he always figures out what is wrong with his patient and fixes it..in the real world not so much

[percythetrain]

Haha yeah most of these shows deal with such difficult diagnoses that you start wondering if that's the case with you too and the doctor you saw probably dismissed you thinking it was something trivial but it wasn't, just like in the show! lol

Hi MissKittie, I totally have the same feelings. I've been looking for a doctor like House for over a year but the ones I see take a look at me and maybe rule out one disease or two at most. They never try to get to the bottom of why i have a particular symptom LOL

[stk149]

I definitely think they make it worse! I use to be a big Scrubs fan, but found that after watching an episode that included some horrible, rare and often fatal illness, I'd start having the same symptoms a few days later :roflmao: JD are Turk were good craic though haha.