Saturday 15 August 2015

Why the internet can be your best friend or your worst Nightmare....

I love the internet, access to all that information with just the typing of a sentence or two... However, even more so recently, I have really been thinking about Why the internet can be your best friend or your worst nightmare...

Source:- http://partnerspreceptors.com/2014/07/

Why?

Simply put, well meaning "experts" by this of course, I do not mean actual experts just those that reply to articles, questions etc... with well meaning intentions and sounding as if they know the best thing for you but actually they don't.  And peoples willingness to accept this information.  It is a dangerous game and one that can lead to fatality.

So, why does this happen? Well, human nature will always seek people to agree with them, to their thought processes and in many cases with the easiest options.  At best some of these can just equal time wasting, however, in the worst circumstances these can be fatal.  To give an example, someone wrote a health article, it was on a detox juice.... Harmless enough.  But then someone commented mentioning they were addicted to drugs, had been for many years and wanted some advice. The responsible Health Article Owner, suggested they see their Doctor and seek help through rehab or other options, whilst another well meaning person replied with a way to self-detox....

At this point I am hoping I am not the only one that went into a cold sweat reading this... Firstly they have no idea what drugs, what quantity, the length of time taken etc... etc...

I have seen this type of thing time and time again from pregnancy and birth advice right the way through to treating major health issues.

I ask you, would you stand in the street with a megaphone and say excuse me everyone I am a drug addict and would like to know if you can advise me on what to do?  Or I am currently 34 weeks pregnant and am getting really deep stabbing pains in my back, what do you advise?  My guess would be no, and with good reason too because most of us are just not qualified to give an answer.

However,

The internet can also be an amazing resource for alternative therapies, medicines, cures etc... but with these, the majority of us would research and as many sufferers of medical conditions will tell you the research takes a lot of time, effort and thorough examination.  However, the information we have access to now is astounding and I for one am all for it.  I love being able to research, look up, discover, understand at the touch of a button, it is incredible, amazing, powerful and often times empowering.

Precaution is needed...

But I do think that precaution is needed.  The unfortunate part to this article is those that are most desperate and vulnerable are usually the least likely to do their research and more likely to take others advice at face value.

I have had 4 children but I am not a midwife and whilst I may have experienced many different symptoms and had various experiences carrying and giving birth to each child how can I advise as to what someone should do if they are experiencing.... x, y or z.  After all, I do not know their medical history or that of their child, the only advice any of us should give is to seek a medical professional.

Now, I am not talking about taking this to the extreme if someone was to ask if you would recommend the Safari Jumperoo and you had one for your child then of course release your opinion, as with music, cars, clothes, well a plethora of subjects, but when it comes to health you are on dodgy ground if you are not a qualified professional in that field.

2 comments :

  1. A very interesting read Traci - thanks for sharing - Jacqueline xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Jacqueline - great to see you x

    ReplyDelete

 
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