Here’s a (very stupid) parody of the attitude as I imagine it from the most obstinate people with this view:
Well, my doctor says I need to take this medication, so that’s what I’m going to do. I don’t care what all those other people online are saying about their experiences with it. My doctor knows best, and I’m not going to listen to a bunch of anonymous strangers on the internet. They’re probably just making stuff up anyway.
Sure, I get that a lot of people had some nasty side effects or didn’t see any improvement, but my doctor assured me that won’t happen to me. He’s a professional, so I trust him completely. And I know he’s only trying to help, not line his own pockets or anything.
All those online forums and support groups are just a waste of time. What could a bunch of regular people possibly know that my highly educated, experienced doctor doesn’t? I’m going to take this medication exactly as prescribed and not ask any questions. My doctor is infallible, and I refuse to get a second opinion or consider any other options. Nope, I’m just going to blindly follow his advice and ignore everyone else. That’s the smart and responsible thing to do!
(Yes, this is extraordinary (and like I said stupid), and yes your doctor knows more than JoeRando420 telling you to buy homeopathic crystal suppositories. In fact I only have one user in mind writing this post, someone I forget who posted long ago about a condition I cannot remember. Hope they got better.)
Main point is: why not let a large number of people who heard about a condition from their own qualified doctors help you at least scribble down some questions to ask your own medical folks at your next appointment? (But please avoid those crystal suppositories.)
Edit: thanks everybody, read all your posts and they’re all great points! Glad I posted here. Thanks for reading something at least 80% dumb :)
Because a lot of things online are blatantly false, you can’t tell if people are memeing, astroTurfing, have some weird agenda, or they all listen to one misinformed influencer.
Your doctor, on the other hand has a medical duty to operate in your best interest, and to inform you of your best options.
Are doctors always correct? Do they always have the time to understand your issue? Hell no. You’re still responsible for your own health care, but the doctor is supposed to be the dispassionate, invested, and rational consultant to help you on your journey
So if somebody doesn’t have the time, energy, background, language skills, to actually look at research, it is reasonable for them to say I’m going to go with my doctor, and not other people. That’s fair, that’s your heuristic, nothing wrong with that as long as it’s done intelligently
If you’re trying to convince somebody to go against their doctor’s advice, the burden is on you, to provide them overwhelming compelling evidence. The probabilities they’re operating under are that their doctor is correct and you are misinformed. The onus is on you to do all of the work, to prove your position. That’s a high barrier