[Warning: This isn't a "funny" post. Every once in a while, if you can believe it, I take something seriously. This is one of those times...]
A few of you may have noticed that I recently posted something in which I did a decent job of not disguising my feelings regarding all this religion business. The post itself was actually aimed at the lame sales method employed by the man that I've come to refer to as the Used Jesus Salesman, but there was a jab in there that obviously went a bit further than just the topic at hand.
The ensuing discussion was heated to say the least. I'm certain I lost a couple (hundred) readers, but that's all right. The conversation was some of the more interesting I've engaged in with my fellow geeks (and non geeks as well) since I started this stupid web site.
While thinking about all of this earlier today, it dawned on me that some of my comments might have made it look as though I have an undying devotion to all things secular. Some negative comments were made about "doctors and scientists," and I jumped on them in a pretty unbalanced way. It wasn't at all unlike the way MS/OSS/Java/.NET zealots blindly defend their "team." Thought I'd undo a little bit of that apparent blind devotion today.
This week at the conference, I spent a lot of time with Ian White. He's been a long time "blog friend," and this was the first opportunity we've had to hang out in person. He's from England, but now lives in the US. Nice guy with a slightly different perspective.
We went out for Indian food today (Ian jokes that the English invented it), and we somehow got on the subject of American medicine. He finds it absolutely fascinating.
What really confuses me is that I'll be watching TV, and a commercial will come on for a medication, and I don't know what it is. It has some strange name like "Peblorium," but they never explain what it does. At the end, they tell me that I should ask my doctor about it. Why should I ask my doctor about it? Do I need it? I've sometimes thought that I should gather the names of all these medications so that on my next trip to the doctor, I can ask him, "And what about this one? Do I need it? No? OK. Well, what about this one here? No? That's a surprise. Let's move on to the next one then..."
I don't watch much television, but on the few occasions that I turn the thing on, I feel like I'm pretty much being assaulted by the ads like the ones Ian was talking about. It seems so bizarre to me that there's this notion that people should be exposed to advertising for medication that addresses conditions which:
1) Are never mentioned
2) Almost certainly wouldn't apply to them
This is every bit as bad as the Used Jesus Salesman. The Used Jesus Salesman tries to convince me that I have a hole in my life that can only be filled by some religious system in which I have no interest, and the pushy pharmaceutical company thinks it's all right to get me thinking that I have a condition which can be treated by one of their expensive pills. Either way, there's a pusher involved. It's pretty messed up.
Ian also mentioned that your average UK hospital doesn't have the facilities to perform MRI scans. This blows me away since I come from an area where MRI scans are directly advertised to consumers. It's as though getting an MRI should be as regular as your bowel movements. At various bus stops throughout Portland, you can find ads from a company called "Open and Advanced MRI" which ask the question: "Do you need an MRI?"
I had to ask myself if these ads were for real. It's highly likely that the only way you're going to know that you need an MRI is when your doctor tells you it's the case. But we now have ads at bus stops prompting us to stop and think about whether or not such a service might be necessary. It's like something you should do casually while fishing for exact fare in your pockets. Let's see... I need a quarter. Do I have a quarter down there? Wallet... Keys... Fluff... Oh. Maybe I do need an MRI. Ah - there's that quarter...
That creeps me the hell out, and I think it's in pretty poor taste. An ad for a Big Mac is one thing, but an ad for a $900.00 (as those of use who have paid for them out of pocket know) service that you probably don't need is the product of one messed up marketing department.
And that's just the marketing. Ian and I also discussed some differences between medicine in the US and socialized medicine elsewhere. I don't want to talk about cost and the increase in my already freakishly high tax bill, but rather about one particular quality of socialized medicine that makes a huge difference: As a medical practitioner in socialized medicine, your pay isn't based on your clientele. There's one place where this changes everything, and that's the mental health field.
When I was about twelve years old, I was basically being told by my teachers that I was an idiot. I never did any homework, and I tended to not pay any attention in class. This wasn't because I was trying to be a jerk or anything, but simply because I was bored. School is overwhelmingly dull. The kind of fun you could have on your own with a computer, and the kick ass things you could learn on your own really made school look bad. School had to compete with the worlds of BASIC, C, assembly, the BBS, riding my bike, and the discovery of that wonderful, wonderful thing called Pornography. This made the days between bells drag.
Some of my teachers got together at one point, though, and had a little conference among themselves. It was decided that something had to be done with Problem Boy. They called my parents, said I was stupid, and suggested that something be done with me. This started a long cycle of self-doubt. I started to think that maybe the teachers were right.
A couple years later, my self esteem was shot. I was feeling low, but I had also recently heard of these things called "psychiatrists." I decided I wanted to go see one, as they were supposed to be like a special sort of doctor that took all your negative thoughts and obliterated them.
So, I got set up with a psychologist. Since it seemed doubtful that I'd need any sort of medicinal treatment, it was decided that I could just go for the pure counseling. The idea was for someone in the mental health profession to talk me out of my funk.
After about thirty minutes of my first session, my new psychologist summed the situation up pretty plainly. She told me that I was extremely depressed, in need of serious help, and that she suspected I was borderline psychotic. I'd have to come in for counseling on a regular basis.
"Wow. I'm crazy," I thought.
A couple weeks later, she decided that it would be helpful to get me on some meds. As previously mentioned, she was only a psychologist, so she couldn't provide me with the hookup, but her husband, a psychiatrist in the same practice, conveniently could. Not only could he help me more than she could, but he'd do it for only twice the price. Perfect!
To make a long story short, I was placed on Wellbutrin, a "Selective Dopamine Reuptake Inhibitor" for several months. I felt like I was smoking crack, more confused than ever, and I certainly didn't feel any better. Unfortunately, according to my shrink, I was getting worse, and it was likely that I'd be seeing him for quite some time to come.
"Wow. I'm nuts," I thought.
After a bit more of this, I suddenly came to my senses one day and saw how I was being manipulated. I familiarized myself with the medical concepts of depression, psychosis, and so on, and realized that I didn't even remotely fit any of the profiles, nor had I ever. The truth is that I was just having a bad time at school, going out of my mind with boredom. I immediately stopped with the meds, and told my "doctors" where they could stick it.
Something tells me that, had I seen a socialized shrink, none of this would have happened. To this day, I really can't comprehend the kind of sleazy mentality that would push someone to take advantage of some kid and tell him that he's on the edge, going nuts, and ready to lose it Jeffrey Dahmer style.
When I was younger, I didn't just have doubts about God. If this post is any indication, I'm not at all blind to the reality that there are people in the medical and scientific communities who are all too happy to take advantage of other people for a few bucks.
God didn't stop my mother's stroke, and some bad apples in the mental health profession nearly got me believing that I was dangerously insane. There are problems on both sides of the argument, although it doesn't change which side I'm on. At least I know whose nuts to kick when it's a human that's screwed me over.