They had him do that thing where you kneel on top of your shoes.

Haha. At my partner’s job, IT had to send out an email clarifying some message from a VP wasn’t phishing because so many people reported it for being suspicious lol.

I’m sure this is a part of it, but this is also a phenomon that’s been studied in psychology called the “overjustification effect.” Basically, once you introduce external rewards to something that was previously done for internal satisfaction, people become motivated only by the external reward and will lose interest without it. The external motivation can also “crowd out” your internal motivation and diminish it completely.

We used to do that in my old tiny apartment until one of us forgot and turned the oven on.

That advice was born from women minorities struggling to get doctors to take their concerns seriously. Look, I get that medicine is a risk/benefit analysis, but patients also need some level of recourse if they aren’t being listened to. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be pushing for tests because you know something is off, only to finally be tested and told it’s too late, maybe if it was caught sooner. Yet, we know this happens. We also know that women and minorities receive demonstrably different care. That fact alone shows there are plenty of situations where a patient may need to fiercely advocate for themselves and question their doctors’ judgment.

I’m not saying completely ignore medical professionals and scream “lawsuit” because google. However, you live in your body and understand your own baseline more than anybody. Sometimes you absolutely can tell if something is truly wrong. Personally, I learned the difference between bad pain and there-is-something-fucking-wrong-you need-to-go-to-the-ER pain in my early 20s when I had ovarian torsion. Thankfully, I was at one of the best hospitals in the country, got a CT scan, and was in surgery lickety split. However, I met someone who had pretty much the exact same symptoms and story and ended up losing an ovary because she was sent home from the ER with them telling her it was normal cramps & anxiety.

Ultimately, imo it should be about informed consent. If you’ve gotten the same answer from 5 doctors and you still want the biopsy, despite the risks that have been plainly laid out for your, then fine. If you end up paralyzed, then you have to deal with the consequences of your decision.

I mean, there are tons of studies on racial and gender inequality in healthcare, but OK, go off.

For example, members of minority groups have longer wait times in the ER [7-9], are less likely to receive catheterization when identical expressions of chest pain are presented [10], and are less likely to be recommended for evaluation at a transplant center or be placed on a transplant waiting list when suffering from end-stage renal disease [11]. African Americans receive lower-quality pain treatment [12, 13], even when covered by the same medical insurance [14, 15] and seeking treatment at the same emergency department [16] as patients of other races. (https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/education-identify-and-combat-racial-bias-pain-treatment/2015-03)

“I was told I knew too much, that I was working too hard, that I was stressed out, that I was anxious,” said Ilene Ruhoy, a 53-year-old neurologist from Seattle, who had head pain and pounding in her ears.

Despite having a medical degree, Ruhoy said she struggled to get doctors to order a brain scan. By the time she got it in 2015, a tennis ball-sized tumor was pushing her brain to one side. […]

Doubts about women’s pain can affect treatment for a wide range of health issues, including heart problems, stroke, reproductive health, chronic illnesses, adolescent pain and physical pain, among other things, studies show. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/interactive/2022/women-pain-gender-bias-doctors/)

Yeah, great question, I don’t understand it either, but marginalized groups like women or people of color can have a hell of a time getting medical professionals to take their concerns seriously. Maybe it’s just a hubris thing. “How dare this person question my judgment when I’m the doctor?”

I’ve never tried this, but advice I’ve seen online is if your doctor won’t order testing, ask them to note in your chart that they are declining testing. Apparently the implicit threat of a lawsuit if they’re wrong is enough to kick at least some of them into CYA mode.

It seems pretty clear the friend is in an abusive relationship, so it really isn’t that simple. The comment you’re replying to literally described how their friend felt unsafe taking any action, especially with her child living there, so I think that’s your answer.

Excuse you, I’m 34.

Haha for real. My internal monologue: “Wait, ‘older’? Aren’t most of us in our 30s to early 40s? …oh”

At work I’ve been thrust into a support function for some random system (I’m in analytics) and one of the roles I work with is fairly entry level, so lots of younger folk. I have been floored by some of the basic-ass shit I’ve walked them through. (Like explaining that you can copy and paste the url into a browser if the link isn’t clickable for whatever reason. Also had to clarify what url meant–is this not a common term anymore?) I had just assumed that because they’re younger and grew up with the internet, they’d smoke the hell out of me. But I guess interfaces are so streamlined these days many got away with never having to learn basic troubleshooting the same way I did as a millennial.

Was there no hardship exception where you were? That’s unreal. I’m pretty sure they asked at the beginning of the selection process when I served if anyone needed to be dismissed for financial hardship. I think they even used not being able to pay for food as an example of what meets the threshold for an actual hardship.

My trial ended up lasting about 3 weeks and I want to say my check was around $115 and included “mileage”… Lol. I was unemployed at the time, otherwise I would have been pissed. Definitely not doable for a lot of people.