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The media's influence on medical diagnosis is particularly complicated and relates, in part, to the larger issues associated with medical diagnoses in our (American) culture. Where do we draw the line between spreading awareness and creating fear?

As Vadilson said, it can be a problem when people misdiagnose their family members and crowd emergency rooms. Not only does it create more chaos in the emergency room, but it also means that fewer resources can be allocated to patients that do require emergency medical care. Sarah pointed out that misdiagnoses may also affect interactions between patients and doctors during check-ups as well; patients may start asking for drugs by name and possibly exacerbating symptoms. This puts pressure on the doctor to sort out real symptoms from imagined symptoms and also to treat the patient with the appropriate therapy. In other words, practitioners must use their observations to decide how legitimate the concerns of their patients are in light of the potential influences of the media.

Conversely, I wonder if the benefits of alerting the public to certain diseases, illnesses, and treatments could outweigh the detrimental effects. If parents, for example, are aware of an epidemic, they may seek treatment for their children earlier than they would have if they were unaware of that epidemic. While there may be more false alarms in the emergency rooms, if doctors are able to save the life of a patient, isn't it worth it? Perhaps the problem is not with alerting the public but improving our hospital systems?

In class we've talked extensively about how scientists, researchers, and doctors have invested a lot of time, money, and resources in classifying depression and other mental illnesses. This desire to classify and treat illnesses and diseases is not unique to professionals in the medical field. Recently, society has become more obsessed with self-diagnosis (i.e. www.webmd.com). Drug companies have also capitalized on the public's desire to learn about treatment options and have spent millions of dollars advertising their pills. So, where do we go from here? How can we make information provided to the public more comprehensive and fair (i.e. with minimal influence from drug company commercials)?