Medical Conditions That Don’t Really Exist
Sunday, April 4th, 2010Perhaps saying that the following medical conditions “don’t exist” is a bit overly simplistic, but I needed something short for the title. There are a number of conditions which large numbers of people claim to have but which the scientific consensus and the weight of evidence indicates do not exist as an actual discrete condition with an organic cause. That’s not to say that people don’t actually suffer the symptoms of these conditions, because some clearly do, but for those who do suffer the symptoms, their symptoms are either entirely psychosomatic or may be other disorders that have been misdiagnosed.
The umbrella term for physical symptoms reported as the result of a mental disorder or delusion is somatoform disorder. Somatoform disorders can be difficult to treat when the person is insistent that their condition is “real” in the physical sense. The most effective treatments for somatoform disorders are cognitive behavioral therapy and antipathetic medications, but some may be very unreceptive to the very suggestion that such measures be taken, even becoming hostile.
Those who present the symptoms of somatoform disorders are commonly prone to delusional hypochondriasis. Anyone who has interacted with a hypochondriac knows that it’s a very tough thing to deal with. In many cases, it can be hard to figure out to draw the line between hypochondria simply being a personality trait of a self-absorbed individual versus when it becomes a real mental illness.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders make it clear that a somatoform condition is not the same as malingering. Malingering is defined as “fabricating or exaggerating the symptoms of mental or physical disorders,” and is usually done for a secondary gain, often for sympathy or attention. In reality, however, the line between somatoform and malingering is not always as well defined. Many with somatoform disorders manifest a need for attention or sympathy which may result in a self-delusional condition that fulfills the desire to be a victim. The line between what is conscious and subconscious is also prone to being blurred, especially when a person has a great deal riding on a delusion.
There are also circumstances where the condition and the symptoms seen in patients are very real, but the condition they are attributed to is false. For example the condition “shell shock” was believed to be cause the symptoms seen in World War I veterans, when really the symptoms were not related to the shock of shelling at all.




By this logic, one rem should result in .1% the likelihood of developing cancer as 1000 rems. This has been likened to observing that when a person is thrown off a ten story building they die 100% of the time, when thrown off of a 5 story building, they die 50% of the time and therefore assuming that 10% will die from a one story fall and 1% will die after falling 12 inches. Furthermore, the implication is that the optimal living situation is zero radiation exposure (something which is effectively impossible) and the higher the exposure is over zero, the worse off you are for cancer risk.

Since the earthquake in Haiti last month, the country has been receiving a lot of foreign aid, including food, clothing, medical supplies and other things the country sorely needs.
Yes, that’s right. They just won’t let go of that damn “germ theory.”











