Denying What's Real: Misdiagnosing for Profit

Imagine being misdiagnosed on purpose.

Misclassified so money, support and treatment wouldn't be offered to you.

The Associated Press has reported that a coalition of injured Iraq war veterans is accusing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of deliberately cheating veterans by allegedly working with the Pentagon to misclassify Post Traumatic Stress Disorder claims as pre-existing personality disorders to avoid paying out benefits.

This lawsuit comes amid intense political and public scrutiny of the VA and Pentagon following reports of shoddy outpatient care of injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and following high-profile suicide incidents in which families of veterans say the Department of Veteran Affairs did not provide adequate care.

How do these government employees sleep at night?

Oh, right, never mind. They sleep like babies.

Grassroots movements, start your engines.

Hat Tip to Godwhacker for this important find.

Just Because It Doesn't Have A Name, Doesn't Mean It's Not Real

I have Restless Leg Syndrome.

I always knew it was something. It just didn't have a name until recently.

From early childhood on, I've had a this itchy, crawly, need-to-move-my-legs-thingy that would occur at night. I was told it was "nothing" and the old stand-by that the symptoms were just "in my head".

Despite being told that my symptoms were imagined, I always believed they had a neurobiological origin. I learned to cope with my "Jimmy Legs" (Seinfeld, 1997)and went on with life. But Restless Leg Syndrome is a real disorder. Recent research tells us that it is genetic in origin and is associated with low iron counts.

See, it was real!

Many other illnesses and syndromes that now have names, used to perplex doctors and patients alike. Often, individuals were told that their symptoms had no medical underpinnings and were of mental origins. Here are just a few:

Fibromyalgia

Epstein Barr

Colitis

Chronic Fatigue

PMDD

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Celiac Disease

Interstitial Cystitis


The reason for this post is to help empower readers to know their bodies and trust their instincts. It is important to learn how to describe symptoms, in detailed and expressive ways, so the person listening can understand the phenomenon. Research your symptoms with the help of the Internet, find support groups and most of all, understand how your psyche can press on the workings of your body.


It takes time for the medical and health fields to recognize, name and treat illnesses. For example, Parent Alienation Syndrome is not yet recognized diagnostically in the DSM-IVTR , but it certainly is an observable symptomatic phenomenon. And though many 9/11 first responders were told that their life threatening illnesses were stress related, data now shows that there's a medical reason for their suffering.



Just because it doesn't have a name, doesn't mean it's not real.

The Vicious Circle of Misery and Company

We all know that misery and company like each other, but the fallout from finding a friend to commiserate with can actually make matters worse.

The American Psychological Association is reporting that girls are more likely than boys to develop anxiety and depression as a result of extensive conversations with friends about their problems.

Co-rumination (excessively talking with another person about problems, including rehashing them and dwelling on the negative feelings associated with them) has costs and benefits. For girls, talking with a friend increased the feelings of closeness, but the co-rumination increased depressive and anxiety symptoms, which in turn, contributed to greater co-rumination. Setting into motion a vicious circle.

I have seen this trend in my work with young girls and recommend that they seek out additional friendships - pals that are positive thinking, upbeat and problem solving oriented.

I think the key here is to know that the cycle of visiting and re-visiting negative experiences without a positive spin can prevent one from getting out of the black hole. And I do think this holds true not only for girls, but for anyone who may have anxiety or depressive predispositions.

See the full text study here.

Oops, I Did It Again: Age and Memory

Can't remember where the keys to the car are?

Or the password to one of your many online accounts?

That's no biggie.

In fact, in our busy multi-tasking world, it is more likely to forget things now than ever before. And those in middle age experience forgetfulness as a normal part of aging

However, a series of forgetful moments have occurred in my life, which make me worry that something MORE is going on than just ordinary forgetfulness.

Like.....

1) Going to the pharmacy and picking up my prescription one day, and then returning to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription again.

2) Filling out an order form for an item and then ordering it AGAIN the next week.

3) And worst of all, forgetting that I scheduled a patient at a certain time and then I missed the appointment.

Given these events, I pulled up some research.

* A recent study suggests that if you think you're losing your memory, you probably will. Researchers found people 50 and older who are aware that they're becoming more forgetful and absent-minded with age were more likely to show a decline in brain function years later (Yikes, this would NOT be good).

* Another study explained why women in their 40's and 50's frequently experienced memory problems: hormone levels and hectic lives make it harder to keep track of everything. (Okay, I can see that....I'm almost 50 and things are kaflooey with my body and life is busy).

* Researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center that a person who is forgetful should not worry about impaired memory - suggesting that forgetfulness occurs because middle-aged, stressed individuals fail to learn or "encode" new information. It's less about how old they are and more about subtle changes in the way the brain files memories - meaning you forgot "because you never really learned the information in the first place." (I like this explanation. I guess I didn't encode picking up the prescription in the learning banks).

Nonetheless, I scheduled an appointment with my doctor.

I hope I don't forget the appointment.

Can You "See" The Baby?

Another illusion for your enjoyment.

Hat tip to blogpal Dawn for the find.

Being Edgy Can Give You An Edge

Being enraged can cloud your thinking.

Feeling furious can mar your judgement.

But apparently being miffed or irked can sharpen your ability to make the right decisions and analyze information.

The study "Thinking Straight While Seeing Red" from the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin is free to read here - and the data tells us that being edgy can give you an edge in problem solving.

I've always kicked some serious butt when I was feeling "warrior-like" when taking tests, studying for exams and doing presentations. Such strategies thwart test and performance anxiety. And when your senses are heightened, problem solving is clearer.

This research makes me think of the famous quote by James Thurber:

"Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness."

Resource

Moons, W.G. & Mackie, D.M. (2007). Thinking Straight While Seeing Red: The Influence of Anger on Information Processing. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33: pp. 706 - 720.