I feel like this pattern of people lying to doctors and doctors adjusting things to account for it really messes with rigorously honest people.
A little while back I was reading how when they ask you how much pain you’re in, with 10 being the most pain imaginable, they pretty routinely have people calmly say “12”. So, if you’re actually using the scale where you’ve probably never experienced more than a 9 and would be sobbing at an 8, so you say 7, they automatically assume you’re in basically no pain because you said less than 10.
Kind of wish we could just speak accurately and take each other literally instead of playing games where we try to figure out exactly what lie to tell to convey the truth, but I guess that’s not how most people are wired.
Unless the person is the kind of person to decline a drink on the grounds that “it’s only Thursday”, “a couple of drinks a week” is likely either more than the person thinks or they (consciously of subconsciously) are downplaying how much it really is.
There’s tons of reasons why their response may be above or below how it seems…
I’m thinking of how a doctor may try to average all that with a variety of patients and how that figures into their diagnosis, hell any differential understanding of symptoms…
Isn’t there some unspoken multiplier doctors use?
Like if you say “a few times a week” they hear “at least 4x a week likely more”…?
I feel like this pattern of people lying to doctors and doctors adjusting things to account for it really messes with rigorously honest people.
A little while back I was reading how when they ask you how much pain you’re in, with 10 being the most pain imaginable, they pretty routinely have people calmly say “12”. So, if you’re actually using the scale where you’ve probably never experienced more than a 9 and would be sobbing at an 8, so you say 7, they automatically assume you’re in basically no pain because you said less than 10.
Kind of wish we could just speak accurately and take each other literally instead of playing games where we try to figure out exactly what lie to tell to convey the truth, but I guess that’s not how most people are wired.
It’s pretty well accepted that someone who says 7 is in more pain than someone who says 12.
If I’m talking to a doctor at all they should assume something is very wrong.
When the farmer says: “I’m here, ain’t I?”…
Back in the day I told a doctor that I have three beers a day. I wasn’t lying but they were 40s.
They asked how many beers. Not how many fluid ounces.
Unless the person is the kind of person to decline a drink on the grounds that “it’s only Thursday”, “a couple of drinks a week” is likely either more than the person thinks or they (consciously of subconsciously) are downplaying how much it really is.
There’s tons of reasons why their response may be above or below how it seems…
I’m thinking of how a doctor may try to average all that with a variety of patients and how that figures into their diagnosis, hell any differential understanding of symptoms…
Oh god, I tell my doctor honestly that I drink ~5-6 Doctor Drinks a day so I hope he isn’t applying a multiplier…
Oh god help you have a good relationship with your healthcare provider.
Or… Maybe don’t? That way we don’t have to endure this bullshit any more than absolutely necessary…