Clinical Psychology

» redback - Morgellons??

I have absolutely no idea if the Wikipedia quote above, is an accurate representation of the known facts.

For any patient or parent, it is extremely frustrating to be given the wrong diagnosis or no diagnosis, when speculative trials of treatment provide no symptomatic relief. Even if there's a whiff of mental health problem be it cause or effect, entrenched stigma is there to ensure friction between the 'process and the program'.

And there's iatragenesis. Love that word. But simply, the investigation and failed attempts at treatment can leave the patient worse off. If it is truly psychosomatic, interminable physical tests ruling out all else carries its own burden.

Well-meaning clinicians etc may overlook the possibility of illusions of parasitosis (P) as distinct from 'delusions' of P:
http://medent.usyd.edu.au/fact/delpara.h...

Who is best suited to treat the sufferer thus collect the fee? There have been bunfights in the past between specialists.

Is the problem compensable or being presented as evidence of inability to work thus entitled to welfare? Self-serving evidence? Been there, done that on many issues.

People get sidetracked in seeking validation. The issue is supposed to be about getting effective treatment, cure or the best prognosis. Medical experts get defensive if their theories or conclusions are questioned by laypeople. How persistently objective can the mum in this case remain?

A cynical response to Morgellons from an Australian medical source:
http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/...

The baggage I carry is that there are at least 3 sides to every coin.

-- posted by redback

» Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen - Morgellons??

Wow. There's ALOT in your post! Another article perhaps, especially about patients being worse off because of no diagnosis. I think that happens with chronic fatigue, cystic fibrosis, etc -- but I have no medical background or any personal experience with those disorders. Some conditions are hard to detect, unfortunately.
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I just read this fantastic sidebar about the mistake doctors make - I think it's part of a Time article, and was about a book about doctor's mistakes in thinking. For instance, they are prone to diagnosing a disease if they had recently diagnosed it (primacy effect). Maybe that would be a great article too!

» redback - Morgellons??

OOPS...my post was almost an article. Each of the issues I raised I'm interested in and been involved in at one level or another.

"... about the mistake doctors make..."

One of the books in my home library is 'Some Doctors Make You Sick' by Stephen Rice...published in 1988.

-- posted by redback