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White coat effect

Recently I've been able to take sick kids to the doctor's office, have the doctor say that there is no problem, and have the kids walk out cured.  The simple process of going to the doctor's seems to have made whatever was causing them problems better. 

I do this all the time myself with strep throat. All someone has to do is mention the words "strep throat" and my throat starts hurting, I get a headache and start feeling warm.  I go to the doctor, he or she does a strep test which comes back negative, and my throat starts feeling better immediately.  I've started going to the CVS instead of the urgent care office to save money and time.  Sometimes I can even pretend I got a strep test and I start feeling better.

The kids are particularly susceptible to imaginary illness when one of their siblings is sick.  Usually it suffices to send them to school any way (with no fever, of course).  The distraction of school makes them forget that they are supposed to be sick.  They are also in danger of illnesswhen I ask them to do some onerous task, like, say, setting the table or practicing.

I've been able to take two kids with ankle "problems" to the doctor's office.  Amanda had been complaining for a month that her ankle hurt.  On the day of the visit, she was jumping around the office like a jumping bean.  The doctor had her go in for an x-ray, but said that it was probably just "growing pains."  After the orthopedist said that she was clean, Amanda kept repeating the "growing pains" story to herself, and amazingly this  seems to have cured her.  Sometimes her ankle hurts, but it doesn't interfere with her life because it is just "growing pains," not something to worry about.

I did this myself in graduate school.  My wrist had been hurting like the dickens for over a week.  I couldn't imagine what had happened--I was fearing bone cancer or carpal tunnel or some terrible illness.  I went to the doctor and he asked one question.  "Have you been writing a lot lately?"  Immediately I realized that I had gone from writing a minimal amount (just problem sets, 2-3 times per week) to writing all day, every day, preparing for comprehensive exams.  i think it took about 5 minutes for my arm to feel much better and I only felt a little twinge after that.  The fear of not knowing what was wrong amplified the hurt; the knowledge that my problem was writer's cramp allowed me to relax, write more carefully, and be free of pain.

Someone once told me that they wanted to create a "placebo" doctor's office where parents could take kids to be looked at by someone who was not a doctor, but who looked like a doctor. This person would tell the kids and the parents that they would be fine, just take some advil, wait a bit and see if it gets better, and relax.  After the kids hear that they are fine, the fear abates, which makes the pain lessen and might help healing begin.  Of course the people working at the clinic would be trained to send kids on to a real doctor's office if they thought something was really wrong.  But at least some of the time the cure can be effected by telling yourself the right story.

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