Posted 11/22/2017 4:43 PM (GMT -5)
I saw this in another forum (health, but not PC) i participate in, and thought it was good perspectve. I hope it helps someone. Helped me a little (for at least 5 minutes)...poster is a healthcare professional, i think he's an NP....
The problem with becoming a ’health nut’ is people become HYPERAWARE OF EVERYTHING.
If people have a tendency towards OCD, it’s like gas on a fire.
I struggled with that up until about 5 years ago, I just got burnt out on rechecking normal labs.
Add to that, most people feel their best RIGHT AFTER they get their labs drawn and walk back to their car. It’s like they receive comfort from getting labs drawn. It’s a HIGH.
In clinic, patients always feel like they got some serious health improvement by getting a shot or by checking labs. Placebo is a POWERFUL tool.
I’ve always thought I get a higher ’Patient Satisfaction Scores’ if labs were a part of the visit.
Some people will recheck blood pressure over and over. One patient I talked to would check his blood pressure like 10 times a day. Some people will recheck their blood sugar over and over. People will ask for their cholesterol to be checked over and over. People will want their TSH checked over and over, just to see if it’s still 1.0. To complicate it, checking hormone levels is maddening because the hormones are constantly in motion and in the end, you’re just listening to 4 instruments of a 60 instrument orchestra.
Humans are FAR MORE than their labs, or their Genes, or their Microbiome.
There are the 5 stages of Grief/Loss.
I think there’s a similar pattern of becoming a "aware" of one’s health or mortality.
--There’s definitely a ’read everything you can’ phase, so you can "catch up"
--There’s a missionary phase where people try to share their new found awareness with friends/family.
--There’s a supplement phase where people are gulping handfulls of supplements.
--There’s a lab testing phase, where people drain their bank accounts, but unfortunately don’t get the answers their looking for.
--There’s a confused stage where people ’Don’t know WHAT to believe’. Vegans, Paleos, Primals, Ancestrals, Oh My!
--There’s a peaceful stage where people come to peace with their mortality. I think my thoughts these days are, "Look... I can’t get thinner, My blood pressure is fine, I’m not going to add any more supplements, I can’t hike more miles per week than I do. If I die today...I did everything I could." And forget about it.
But...people are funny and may just stay stuck in one phase, or do the phases out of order, or come up with wholly different phases of their own. I guess the above are just mine.
But...I think the point of life is it’s struggles. I think people like Paris Hilton or any of the Kardashians would be totally boring people to talk to. Never had a job, always had all the money they ever wanted.
If they have struggles it’s usually substance abuse because they’re bored.
So I think it’s GOOD to know where you are on the continuum of life and enjoy each stage for what it is, a opportunity to grow