Posted by JeffH on October 30, 2001, at 15:16:20
In reply to Re: How do you decide what to trust?, posted by Elizabeth on October 30, 2001, at 12:28:04
On looking at information and trusting what you read, it's kind of like quantifying psychic pain.
It's hard to do.When I read about a disaster in a newspaper, perhaps a couple family members killed in an auto accident, I know that the dry reporting in no sense conveys the devastated emotions of the people involved. It's hard for me to be connected.
I lurked for a few months on psycho babble before finally posting, and, before this, I intensely searched anything I could on depression. The research provided good information, but like the newspaper reporting, it was cold, clinical, and didn't seem to touch the suffering I was experiencing.
When I stumbled on psycho babble, wow! Here were not just facts, but the struggles of the posters made me quickly identify with them and their diseases. Trust? I can't help but trust their advice (even though it may sometimes be off base) because their experiences have made a medication or treatment very real and valid to me. Somehow, it's worth more. Believe it or not, I would trust the advice of some posters over some of the doctors I have used in the past.
-- Jeff
poster:JeffH
thread:82639
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011025/msgs/82679.html