Coping With Welfare Equals Losing 13 IQ Points

[daredtowork]

55. The other big stressor in here

Notice a lot of this system rests on the support of the doctor.

There are penalties if the doctor supports a false disability claim, but no penalty if a doctor lets a patient suffer while they fail to diagnose "vague symptoms".

Doctors often let their politics and personal prejudice intervene in early diagnosis. Many studies have been done to show how doctors will be less likely to diagnose conditions in patients when they are black/women/overweight/etc.

Also, in my experience, doctors are programmed to focus on "lifestyle" issues first and to do "watchful waiting" rather than jump to conclusions. In recent years doctors also insist patients bring up only one symptom at a time since the appointment is short: that discourages a general overview of complex conditions. These factors mean the timeline is really long for a doctor to realize that "vague symptoms" like pain, stiffness, and fatigue may be indicators of something serious, and not just the patient exaggerating or malingering. If the patient is confronting them with government paperwork, that may automatically cause the doctor to assess them for malingering.

To get to the point: if the disease is not screamingly clear cut upfront, the doctor's timeline can be REALLY long, while the timeline for Social Services paperwork is short, and the patient's suffering is right now and ongoing.

This is so unfair.

Doctor's should be more willing to evaluate "vague symptoms" the same way an employer would. If the doctor wouldn't hire a person themselves - if they don't think a person would last a week in a job - then that person is not currently employable. Then the medical system can dawdle all it want in diagnosing the actual disease/disorder (though it would be nice if it would get around to providing a medication or some other idea to alleviate the patient's suffering sooner or later). But the situation as is leaves people who are unemployable WITHOUT FOOD because some doctors are getting away with indulging in their prejudices.