You come home drenched from the rain, sneezing and coughing like there’s no tomorrow. Your mother asks you to immediately take a hot water bath and change into warm clothes, drink a cup of freshly brewed kadha, apply a vapour rub and drinking hot water or take steam for at least a week till you get better. In advanced stages, it involves the consumption of cough syrups and fever-dissolving tablets, if need be. Or you sprain your leg while walking around, and you are asked to show if you can stand up and then a crepe bandage gets tied on your feet. In these processes, nowhere is an expert involved. It is purely cured on the basis of self diagnosis. So, what is leading today’s patients to push their boundaries of self diagnosis instead of consulting an expert in the first go?
High expenses, doctor-medical representative collaborations, rising pressure on family economy and more are some of the reasons why people are turning to self-diagnosis more than ever, today.
Recurring ailments need no expert advice: Recurring ailments like cough and cold or fever, especially during a seasonal change wave, or allergies are often self-treated. For years, one knows what suits their body and how the condition can be averted or treated. Thus, people find it of no use to visit the experts and spend money in the initial stages.
Social media: In the age of social media, information is everywhere. Thus, before consulting an expert face to face, people consult the social media. Through YouTube tutorials, online articles, and ChatGPT ‘experts’, one gets the prognosis, medicine list and duration of recovery. While this may seem as one of the best ways to self-heal, the cons include getting embroiled in misinformation, misdiagnosing yourself, overspending money and foregoing the fact that each body is different and a general prognosis may not fit everybody.
Alternative medicine: The rise of alternative medicine and wellness routines also has a part to play. Healing of the mind and body is also a part of wellness rituals. Since one is following the overall program, they stick to ways of alternative, organic and natural healing methods like ayurveda, rather than going to medical consults.
Medicines are expensive: Today, medicines have become expensive, give the economic blowup and its influence in every sector of life. Sometimes, manufacturing is less but demand is more, and this also contributes towards the price hike. Moreover, if one is not careful, then expired medicines are also sold which aggravates the patient's condition rather than bettering it.
Doctor- Medical representative collaboration: Interestingly, if you visit a clinic today, you would see that the queue of medical representatives waiting to meet the doctor is higher than the number of patients. And sometimes, medicines and contacts to avail them are written down formally on the prescription.
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