media

[herbie73]

Morning all, does anyone blame media for there health anxiety, for instance saying 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer, does any other woman on here feel like there boobs are ticking time bombs xx

[cpe1978]

The idea of boobs as ticking time bombs is an interesting on. Hope I am not nearby when one goes off.

But in answer to your question I think the media has a role to play in exacerbating issues people have with HA, but the reality is that the issue at play here is the way in which people with HA interpret the media reports. For example, yes one in eight women will get breast cancer, but they don't mention how many of these are in old age and how many are hereditary and therefore more preventable.

The reality in the UK is that we can't trust a jot of what the media ever says whether it is on health or politics or anything else.

Let's take the reporting yesterday of the fact that two thirds of cancers are just had luck gene mutations and not linked to lifestyle. The media trail it like they are dismissing a connection between cancer and lifestyle, yet the reality is that many cancers are linked directly to lifestyle. Also it's additionally irresponsible given that the biggest killers - heart disease and stroke are directly linked to lifestyle.

So in the one hand you can read media stats like the one in eight figure as an example and it sounds dramatic. But I was speaking to a senior GP the other week. Do you know that on average a GP will be involved in diagnosing a case of breast cancer every seven years or so. Puts it in perspective doesn't it.

[snowflake293]

Seeing stuff on the TV about cancer/ebola/illnesses triggers my health anxiety big time, but I can't really blame the media cause they are just doing their job reporting it all I guess. I know what you mean though.

I find it hard to watch things about cancer now and sometimes I switch over cause it sometimes triggers me off to check myself over and over again.

Breast cancer is a big fear of mine cause my Mom had it recently and I had a benign lump myself that had to be biopsied which was horrible (couldn't bear the waiting for the results) but very glad I had it checked - sensible thing to do.

For me, the internet has played a big part in my health anxiety. I feel like it has even fed it a bit and made it worse, but that is just me. Sometimes I wish I had never, ever started Googling things cause that's where the majority of my worries ever came from.

xx

[herbie73]

Yeah, Dr google should be struck off, I've only become paranoid since googling xxxx

[GwenP]

Agree Dr Google is evil and yes everywhere you look it's in your face. By all means make people aware but years ago same diseases not shoved in throat

[herbie73]

People were a lot happier in the days when there wasn't so much media, just got on withit, iI think health anxiety is alot more common now, cause people are so aware of different illness.xxx

[debs71]

The idea of boobs as ticking time bombs is an interesting on. Hope I am not nearby when one goes off.

cpe1978 - Your comment has made my day. LOL. Really gave me a good laugh.

I just ignore all of these health stories in the media.

For example, one minute they are telling you that boob milk is 'best for baby,' the next they are saying that it causes asthma.

I can't be arsed with reading them anymore, as it is just another no-win thing to get neurotic about.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Let's take the reporting yesterday of the fact that two thirds of cancers are just had luck gene mutations and not linked to lifestyle. The media trail it like they are dismissing a connection between cancer and lifestyle, yet the reality is that many cancers are linked directly to lifestyle. Also it's additionally irresponsible given that the biggest killers - heart disease and stroke are directly linked to .

I just want to add to this.

I remember seeing Russell Howard run a montage of what could cause cancer that the media had reported set to "we didn't start the fire". It was amusing, especially things like "men" then "women" would pop up or "young" then "old".

In terms of genes and lifestyle, that's contradictory of the current anti smoking campaign. If you read about a newer branch of genetic science, epigenetics, there is work proving that genes are merely blueprints and are influenced by processes such as methylation, which responds to lifestyle eg diet, exercise, etc.

You have to split the media into 2 categories; 1) general and 2) specific. TheGeneral such as the newspapers, online papers and bloggers are hit & run merchants who exist to make money. The Specifics are your scientific journals and are a far greater source of real information.

Exploding boobs? I expect to see The Daily Mail running a front page soon about immigrant exploding boobs being the source of increased breast cancer... and decreasing housing values

[mummato2]

Media is a huge source of my anxiety BUT in the same vein, it does a great job raising awareness of things like breast and skin cancers. I wouldn't have known to check my breasts if it weren't for media - pap smears etc.

The problem for us is our brains see these media sources and forget it's informative, instead it flicks to red flashing lights of "danger" which sets off a whole swag of our personal triggers and behaviours.

It'd be lovely to watch a skin cancer or breast awareness campaigns without my tummy sinking.

You know, a positive to all of this is at least we are aware of the trigger? That's gotta be a good step!