The Mighty community shares things they’ve seen on TV and in movies that don’t typically happen to patients in real life.
Transcription:
THINGS THAT ONLY HAPPEN TO CHRONICALLY ILL PATIENTS ON TV
- Patients can always stay in the hospital until they get a diagnosis.
“Patients in ‘House’ just stay in the hospital until they find out what’s wrong with them.”
“That’s not how it’s worked for anyone I’ve ever met.”
- According to commercials, you become perfectly healthy after taking [insert medication].
“I should be happy and riding carnivals rides when in reality for me it’s hard to walk to the kitchen and make coffee.”
- Patients with narcolepsy always fall asleep instantly, wherever they are.
“In the movie ‘Rat Race.’ The character standing there asleep for hours on end?”
“No way. His legs would’ve collapsed.”
- Shocking a flat-lined (asystole) heart will get it started again.
“Shocking can ‘reprogram’ an arrhythmia back into a sinus rhythm, but it can’t reintroduce electrical activity into a heart that has none!”
- Doctors provide every type of care to their patients.
“Most patients when in the hospital see their doc once a day for rounds and then maybe an intern or a resident after that.”
Media portrayals matter.
We should use them to improve our understanding of chronic illnesses —
Not reduce the experiences of people who live with them.
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