In this posting, I'll introduce you to CHAOS theory, that which created CHAOS. Nothing in this hemisphere of my life has had more profound effect. Let's get started with some undertone rationalizations for why this even came to be.
Professional medicine is empowered by two simple devices: Reputation, and Liability. This paradigm is the box each licensed doctor is put into. Ensuring interchangeability, a doctor is expected to be agreeably conclusive among their peers. This is Reputation. Online reviews and ratings usually have very little effect. News, web, and authored articles may have more effect. Agencies, Organizations, and Panels have significant effect upon Reputation.
When risk is involved, Liability is a factor. The moment a doctor professionally engages in a situation, Liability kicks in (though the degree is not yet determined). A doctor's medical license is tied to Liability. Infractions of Liability can quickly decimate Reputation by Board Hearings, Legal Action, or similar situations. In modern times, through several discussions with doctors, I've found that it's generally quite unusual for a doctor to find themselves at the mercy of the Board. Psychiatric factors may be one primary disposition for getting put in the vise. Liability is protected by insurance. Reputation is protected by documentation. The doctor controls the documentation, but fears legal oversight that can supersede documentary efforts. This fear can easily be a driving factor in determining risk, thus liability and reputation, and ultimately, commitment level to the patient.
These devices are important to the development of CHAOS. Had clinical professionals exercised more willingness to spend even mediocre time and resources on medical cause-and-effect analysis, research, scientific studies, and/or data correlation, preferably all of the mentioned, I'd have had an easy solution long ago to a catastrophic breakdown in QoL (Quality of Life). And no reason to write a blog. Probably worth a few million by now too. Nope.
What happens when you (or me!), the unassuming yet striking character, finds yourself asking q's to your doc about seemingly obvious health nuances, that only produces more q's asked back to you? This health abnormality is donking up day-to-day living! Of course, things aren't getting better, otherwise why'd you come here? Social currency isn't cheap, and you're hemorrhaging! Doc, do something!
Yea I've been through this if it isn't obvious. Numerous times over. Meanwhile, health degenerates. Month after month. Life falls apart. There is no hope, nobody has The Answer. Impending doom is a genuine concern. Too bad for them, I didn't head for the woods. No, to beat them, I needed to become one of them, then demonstrate superior proficiency in their own fields. Otherwise, my fate was sealed. The race was on. Spoiler: I won.
Through my experiences, one of the most important aspects I've learned about many (but not all) doctors and medical specialists is that they're what I termed "Professional Parents". These people leverage life lessons, personal bias, trends, and resulting experience gained from textbook learning to guide their subjects in a lowest-common-denominator fashion. Medical assessments are reduced to, in order:
ASSESSMENT STRATEGY
- Gross manifestation
- Pain experienced
- Psychological condition
- Perceived challenge
The first three items are quickly "treatable". The first may enact a prompt, and potentially accurate, treatment plan. This is optimal, as both parties, medical and patient, are able to realize immediate progression towards recovery. The second becomes more or less a punt or the beginning of the process of elimination. Here's where things can get volatile, intentionally or unintentionally. Misdirection, [un]educated guessing, diversions, pharmaceutical influence, personal belief, etc, start to materialize.
The third step can be outright dangerous. Specialists may become pseudo-psychologists, or feel they need to create an environment of control over their patients. Psychoactive drugs are prescribed, and/or Psychologist referrals are written. Some doctors will go so far as to convince their patients that the medication they're prescribing only exhibits psychoactive properties if used in higher doses. This "wedge" gives leverage to increase doses later, enabling their desired chemical-induced psychoactive control. The patient's victim's resulting mental state can cause significant behavioral alterations, further complicating treatment.
The overarching goal of the morally confused physician is to subdue a patient's free will and observe physiological alterations - an expensive process in time and money that can produce wildly inaccurate false negatives and positives. Correlations become highly subjective. The victim is now paradoxically managed by bureaucratic process; a wounded bird falling down a rabbit hole. Interestingly, in this space, everyone can hear you scream, deepening the hole, increasing the distance between the victim and society. You've been determined to be a danger to yourself! Sedate, sedate!
Personally, I got way ahead of that asinine curve, but I've seen and read about many people that haven't. Because of the failures witnessed, I came up with this hypothesis: Our state of medicine can be considered "primitive" until the placebo can be eliminated. It's at that time science has a complete and determinate understanding of physical science and biology. This led me to advancing my understanding of medicine and biology: If I could understand certain underlying scientific fundamentals, overlying factors can be determined with simplicity and logic.
Back to the Assessment Strategy, the victim can be sentenced to punitive damages or even their own death, when entering the fourth stage of assessment. Oppositely, this is where a physician has the opportunity to shine. A great deal lies in the balance at this level. Commonly, the patient/victim is simply dismissed in professional manner, not formally, but enough to make them feel awkward if considering a return visit. Another standard dismissal technique is the plausible referral, to steer them away, becoming someone else's problem. Yet another is outright condescension to discourage any further relationship with the facility visited. Far from tactful.
In the rare event that the physician took the fourth step seriously, understanding the gravity of the situation, they may be inclined to step out-of-the-box. This action is not to be taken lightly, as Liability now floats outside the security of the box. When a doctor draws up hypotheticals, brainstorming underlying mechanics, toying with abstract methodologies - you better listen and listen well. Pending you're not being mislead through misdirection (a difficult quantification to rapidly identify), this may be a dart on the board which harbors The Answer. Following that trajectory could be the critical directional lead; a difference between months of validations and years of runarounds.
Next post I'll explore the construct of CHAOS. Foundation is important.
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