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BTirado's avatar

Great. Now do an article on how there IS a REAL massive increase in weird digestive issues, and how women have a long history of being ignored and told their problems are "in their head". When no one is listening to you or believing you (often including your own family), it is only natural to turn to others with similar issues. That is human nature, and also, there is power in numbers, so gathering actually makes sense. Seems though that the young group doesn't actually know how to channel their collective power into anything useful other than as support for each other.

When I was in my 20s and complained to two different primary care doctors about pain in my hand, I was told by one that it was literally in my head. And the other told me I was in my child baring years and there was nothing they could do anyway. I "persisted", and found a hand surgeon, who removed the pain source - a glomus tumor - from my fingernail bed. Good think I didn't listen to the two docs who totally dismissed me.

I have found that docs routinely suggest that problems are in someone's head just because they don't know the cause.

Digestive issues are through the roof, and there is very little understanding of why. I myself have developed over the years dairy and gluten intolerance. Thank goodness I had a good primary at the time who suggested I cut those. Without that good medical advice, I'd probably still be being told I was imagining it. When I thanked her, she just said, "we see this all the time now".

There is a real story in here about what the hell is going on with our digestive health. I'd suggest you focus on that, instead of the usual of implying it is in women's heads, and castigating them for seeing out a community suffering the same.

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smits3's avatar

"Seems though that the young group doesn't actually know how to channel their collective power into anything useful other than as support for each other."

But they AREN'T supporting each other, but instead dragging each other down into the abyss of medical hysteria and self pity.

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Lisa's avatar

Uh medical hysteria? They don’t need internet groups for that. They can just turn on CNN or any of our absurd, distortion-based corporate media, much of which is subsidized by Pfizer and co. Like how about those ridiculous vaccine passes to get in a restaurant despite the fact the Covid vaccines stop neither infection nor transmission. And watch out for monkeypox! It was an emergency when there were three cases. I don’t really like beating up on these young women when we have created such a sick society for them to “thrive” in.

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Lisa's avatar

No one knows the short or long term effects of eating genetically modified foods The safety studies were done by Monsanto! European studies found major health issues in mice. Yet almost every meal in this country now contains these novel components. Bon Appetit

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Celia M Paddock's avatar

Thank you! I am shocked and even disgusted at how many of our fellow commenters are happy to throw those of us with REAL illnesses under the bus, just because some teenage girls are trying to "out-sick" each other.

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Mark Miles's avatar

Don’t throw the girls under the bus either, Celia. 😊 I’m an MD specialized in pain medicine. A couple points:

1: Pain is real; people don’t make symptoms up. These young women are really suffering. (The only exception to that is overt malingering or factitious disorder for secondary gain, but that is a very marginal issue in the practice of managing chronic pain. There is also conversion disorder, which is indeed primarily psychiatric, but you hardly ever see that.)

2: There is always a bidirectional psychological dimension in the suffering from chronic pain. Persistent pain causes persistent anxiety and insomnia that make pain worse, in a vicious cycle. Fibromyalgia is example of an illness that causes severe, genuine pain and fatigue—not “in-their-head.” But the people most at risk for fibromyalgia are women who haven’t slept well since they were teenagers because of chronic anxiety.

3: The outcome of living with chronic medical conditions is highly dependent on coping style. A catastrophizing coping style is shown to be associated with greater pain related functional impairment. All of the young women featured in this article will have a complex combination of varying organic pain generators, anxiety and depression, and counterproductive coping styles (leveraged by the inauthenticity of online adolescent group dynamics).

The healthy pathway to coping with chronic pain and illness is acceptance and commitment. Transition from “my pain makes me not OK. I will be OK when my pain is fixed.” Vs “I’m OK. The core me is intact. I will focus my energy on functioning according to my core values.”

Also, focus on restorative sleep and staying as physically active as possible.

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Celia M Paddock's avatar

Thank you!

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Bruce Miller's avatar

You both might find solace in the findings of Dr. Davis on the dangers of a grain based diet.

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milllionthmonkeytyping's avatar

I saw an article a while back about micro-plastics in our bodies. Also, micro-particles in lungs from wearing masks. Cell phones aren't the only tech that can harm our health. It's like we've messed with Mother Nature a little too much.

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