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It’s Not In My Head Doc, It’s In YOUR Head

June 10, 2012

By Robert McNamara

Boston, MA – “In my head, doc?  How about your head?”  At least that is what a new study says about doctors who attribute patients’ symptoms to psychological stress.  According to a Boston University study, 48 percent of doctors misdiagnose symptoms as “in your head” as a self-defense mechanism when they fail to diagnose illness.

Your tests were negative, and these doctors will be talking about you after you leave.

The study also said 28 percent of doctors surveyed said their doctor friends default to “it’s in your head,” and what’s even more alarming is that 60 percent of patients listen to these same doctors.

“They know it’s wrong, and sadly patients are the ones that suffer,” said Dr. Robert Bunton, a Professor of Internal Medicine at Boston University and primary author of the study.

Psychologists following the study believe that many doctors feel angry at patients that present difficult to diagnose illnesses.  The source of the anger may be twofold.  First, if a doctor cannot diagnose an illness in 15 minutes he or she is losing money because that is the allotted time per visit.  Second, doctors are enviable in their self-esteem.  When they cannot diagnose a disease, they because frustrated because their they are forced to question their own limitations.

Former cancer patient Beth Conlan of Bethesda, Maryland lamented her own “it’s in your head” diagnosis.  “My leg was throbbing in pain for weeks and all [her doctor] could tell me was ‘it’s in your head’,” said Conlan.  It turned out she had a cancerous tumor growing in her knee joint.  Eventually, the tumor was visible with the naked eye.  “It was the size of a basketball, and he still insisted I was imagining everything,” said Conlan.  She eventually was forced to have her leg amputated, but before she did the tumor grew to the size of a watermelon.

There was some good news in the study:

— More doctors – 11 percent – admit when they do not now what they are talking about.  This is up from 5 percent in 2001.

— Fewer doctors said that they guess diagnoses when they do not want to admit they are wrong or refer patients to other doctors.

— More medical schools – 23 at last count – said that they offer arrogance-control courses as electives in their curriculum.

So the next time your doctor tells you “it’s in your head,” stand up tall, stick out your chest and tell him “no doc, it’s in your head!”

The Associated Media contributed to this report.

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