7 Comments

I think once symptoms are ‘medicalized’ there can be a loss of agency on the part of the patient. In her case this shows up as an inability to connect her own choices to her lived outcomes. And doctor shopping- with her medicalized problem she seeks a clinician to fix it.

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Nov 2
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Agree with “duffel bag” of anxiety; it was shorthand for psychosocial factors driving somatic complaints (nasty word) like headache, diarrhea, tachycardia, pseudo hypertension etc.

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That's a fine display of common sense, something not appreciated by Big Insurance or Big Hospital and the physicians forced to follow their guidelines.

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Thank you for this respectful, honest, sensible analysis of the issue. This woman is lucky to have you as her physician.

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She hasn’t decided yet…

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Well, you saw her as a person and gave her authentic, thoughtful care. She was lucky to to have you for that time. And, now, we are so fortunate that you took the time to share it with us. So good fortune to the 2nd power at least.

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Thank you for your kind words. Like I wrote one time, my work informs my writing and my writing informs my work.

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