The end of ‘one size fits all’

Everyone knows I only watch cable TV.  There I saw Oprah with Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey’s partner, who has a son with autism.  Jenny was complaining about her pediatrician and the way he talked to her about her child.  It sounded like his reading of her child was different from her feelings about her child.  The doctor, a scientist, was using his logical left brain, and Jenny was talking from a deeper, more personal level of understanding of her son.  She was talking from her right brain.  And in the end she said, “One size does not fit all.”

“One size fits all.”  When did that phrase come into being?  I think it must have been in the ’80s when pantyhose became part of our daily uniform.  That was 20 years ago.  It is time for another paradigm shift.  In my opinion — given my advertising background and a wash of Jungian psychology — I venture to say that this millennium brings us to the age of individualism.  Individualism is not a disease.  It is not narcissism.  But many like Jenny want to say to their doctors, “Listen to me.  I know my child better.  I know he is not what you say he is.  Don’t just tell me what to do because you don’t know him as I know him.”  The pediatrician should listen. There are many different types of autism and they require different methods of handling.

On The Today Show, they were reviewing current diets from Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and another one.  Again the phrase “one size no longer fits all” comes up.  This means there are many diets available.  You choose the one that suits your individual needs best — your taste, your body type, even your personality type.

What other thing do I notice about this one-size-does-not-fit-all talk?  It usually refers to health issues.   Doctors, who are scientists, are trained in only one way.  This is the disease.  These are the symptoms.  These are the medicines.  You can interchange them.  I met a neurologist recently.  She asked what medicine my mother was taking.  Abixa, I said.  “Ah, yes, there are three,” she added, “Aricept, Abixa and (another unfamiliar brand).   They are all the same.”

“No, Aricept made my mother unusually cranky.  Abixa sort of calmed her down,” I said, feeling offense rising. 

“They’re all the same,” she answered, looking vague.   I thought, what do you know?  Does someone you love have Alzheimer’s?  Do you observe their reactions to the drugs you prescribe?  I did not bother to tell her that my mother has since switched to a natural brain powder and I am even more satisfied with its results than any of the drugs.  She’s a doctor.   They are hard to talk to if you’re a patient.  They don’t understand how you feel.  They dismiss feelings.  It’s only now that some hospitals are beginning to involve psychologists in their medical teams. 

But more and more the pressure will be on them because we are tiptoeing into the age of individualism, where patients who know how they’re feeling demand to be listened to. “I am the one suffering here.  Give me pointers on what I can do.  Do not just prescribe drugs.  Those are all chemicals with side effects.  Forget about your drugs.  Learn a little about natural medicine and give me real advice.  And what about therapies?  Can you suggest therapies?” 

I healed my own stroke knitting.  No doctor told me to do that.  I was lucky I knew how to knit.

Today’s patients do not trust their doctors as much as doctors think.  There are more and more products in the alternative health-care category and they are good ones.  They are all-natural.  When I wrote “Stroke Survivor Dropped … Dead?”  you cannot imagine the amount of texts and e-mails I received all railing against drug companies.  If I belonged to a drug company, I would start worrying.  I would also start looking at alternative natural health companies and acquire them to vary my options for the future.

And if I were a drug company, I would begin to include talking to patients instead of just sending doctors to conferences.  In the end, who buys your drugs?  Patients.  Many have died unhappy from their side effects, but they just didn’t have the courage to talk back to their doctors.  Watch out, guys, this is not only my point of view.  It’s a point of view I developed from watching cable TV.  Okay, things move slowly but the sooner you know, the longer you have to plan.  Take stock of all your strategies.  Individuals are using the Internet, doing their own research, finding their own alternative cures and they are enjoying them.  Remember, one size no longer fits all.

Time to prepare for another paradigm shift.

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