(General) "Talking Headlines: with Professor Jim Coyne"

[Tom Kindlon]

Note: This isn't about M.E. I just found it a bit interesting. "

Talking Headlines: with Professor Jim Coyne" (April 21)
http://researchtheheadlines.org/2015/04/21/talking-headlines-with-jim-coyne/

"Jim, can you define a moment when you became so actively interested in science reporting?

A. As Director of Behavioral Oncology, I became aware of inaccurate portrayals in the media of psychological factors altering the course and outcome of cancer. Unrealistic stories tell of people overcoming cancer by sheer mind power. These tall tales do a lot of damage. Not only do they give people false hope, they provide the message that persons with cancer have only themselves to blame if they did not obtain better outcomes by adopting the right attitude and showing more fight. But people with cancer who have a fighting spirit die at the same rate as those who don't.

My research also clearly showed that psychotherapy and support groups, whatever other benefits they might have, do not affect the course or outcome of cancer."

[..]

"I don't know - and here I may be getting myself in trouble - but I think in the UK, there's more willingness to see a lack of personal wellness as a moral fault."

(Tom: may apply in other countries also)

 

[OverTheHills]

"Social media, ranging from Twitter to blogs, are becoming an extremely important way of independently evaluating claims that may have slipped into the media simply on the basis of being attention-grabbing. Independent review in the social media has really come into its own. I invite everybody to find a few trusted sources to filter and interpret what they read elsewhere."

Including this site and the science brains here. Nice that someone notices and tells others.

Don't forget to click through and give this some traffic. Its an interesting read.

 

[Valentijn]

"I don't know - and here I may be getting myself in trouble - but I think in the UK, there's more willingness to see a lack of personal wellness as a moral fault."

This is a huge problem in the US too, probably tying into the American Dream. In the US generations have been raised to believe that literally everyone can achieve a happy and comfortable life, with a nice house in the suburbs and a car, etc, through hard work alone.

The consequence is that anyone who does not have this comfortable and happy life is seen to have slacked off instead of working hard. Never mind that so many jobs requiring very hard work do not pay enough for full-time employees to afford food and rent, much less save up for a house or even dream of a car.

Similarly, we are heavily sold the message that most serious health problems can be avoided with healthy eating, activity, and probably an appropriate amount of church attendance Simply put, only people who are doing something wrong are going to suffer. It must be deserved, because if it isn't, then no one is safe - and that's more worry than most people can handle, especially in a country where health insurance and health care has not been available for a huge segment of the population.

 

[alex3619]

Just world fallacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_hypothesis
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Just_world_hypothesis

 

[Valentijn]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_hypothesis

Specifically regarding illness:

"Other researchers have found that observers judge sick people as responsible for their illnesses. One experiment showed that persons suffering from a variety of illnesses were derogated on a measure of attractiveness more than healthy individuals were. In comparison to healthy people, victim derogation was found for persons presenting with indigestion, pneumonia, and stomach cancer. Moreover, derogation was found to be higher for those suffering from severer illnesses, except for those presenting with cancer.[26] Stronger belief in a just world has also been found to correlate with greater derogation of AIDS victims.[27]"