Science Journalism :: Recognizing Science Journalism

Self-Medicating in a Fast-Paced Culture
By Anna Olejarczyk

You are watching television when a commercial asks if you are currently experiencing the following symptoms: you feel tired, have low energy, can’t sleep or have anxiety. It asks if you answered yes to any of these questions because, if you did, you might be suffering from depression. But no worries, there’s a drug that can help you. The catch: you need to ask your doctor.

Alan Cassels, a policy researcher affiliated with the School of Health Information Sciences at the University of Victoria, says this phenomenon is all part of the culture we live in. “It is the quick fix for everything method,” he says.

Whether it’s Googling symptoms to find out what you could be suffering from, or pharmaceutical companies marketing their drugs, our culture simply overmedicates.

“People don’t want to take the time to go and do research in the library,” says Cassels. “We are culturally attuned to have what we desire very quickly and that includes a quick medical fix for what we have.”

Cassels’ research and interest lie in the realm of drug information and prescription drug-taking behaviour. For 15 years he’s been conducting research on the quality of medical reporting in the media and after receiving research funding he conducted a year-long study into the way drugs get reported in Canada.

His research is not quite done but he says that preliminary findings indicate that in some areas of drug reporting, the media are very good.

“For things such as discussing the safety, novelty of the treatment, whether it is new or not: they [the media] are good at that. In terms of discussing the potential for harm: they are not that good,” he says.

His research spawned the creation of the Media Doctor Canada, a website that evaluates treatments in Canadian medical news. It is cloned from an Australian group doing similar work.

Essentially, Cassels wanted to know the benefits and harms related to a treatment being reported. His research looks at how the media reported the cost, mongering (exaggerating the nature of the disease to sell the treatment) and whether the media outlet reported on any conflicts of interest.

While some of the reporting is good, one essential element is missing: “The media has to ask hard questions when reporting on prescription drugs.”

This is crucial to the time we live in, the digital age in which people expect instantaneous results. Health has become a top priority and fear has been deeply rooted in our conscience.

Cassels illustrates this with the five-point questionnaire you might answer in a magazine or in your mind during a television commercial. “If you happen to be shy and answer yes numerously, the conclusion will be: you have social anxiety disorder, therefore go and see your doctor.”

This plants the seed of concern and tells people their behaviour may be abnormal, says Cassels, when in fact there are ranges of normal. “That’s the essence of disease mongering.”

Depression gets a lot of media attention. It’s talked about, but Cassels points out that it’s not talked about in the correct way and trying to fix the illness through medicine alone is not the only solution.

In British Columbia, a doctor sees a patient every eight minutes, says Cassels. In eight minutes, there’s not much a doctor can do if the patient comes in saying they have symptoms of depression.

“The most you can do is send them away with a free sample,” he says.

That’s why an emphasis should be placed on journalists asking the hard questions so that readers receive the most information possible. The marketing for anti-depressants is currently very successful. Companies advertise the disease and encourage people to get treatment.

He predicts the next illness to get attention will be bi-polar disorder. “It’s taking bi-polar disorder and re-shaping it into a garden-variety type [illness] so anyone can get it,” he says.

His research shows a number of problems with this. For example, the drugs are powerful with huge troubling side effects.

His research has made him want to help journalists not get spun by science. Asking tough questions is one thing, but also, a journalist shouldn’t be intimidated by people in white lab coats.

The media needs to be cautious when a new treatment comes out. Cassels points out that there’s a need to ask about the nature of the disease and the nature of the treatment. “You have to ask about long-term effects. That’s one thing that won’t be found in a report about a treatment,” he says.

The next time a depression commercial comes on or a new drug gets written about, Cassels cautions that it isn’t medication that is going to fix you: “It is yourself.”

So, why don’t we think about the personal element in medicine and science? “Probably,” says Cassels, “because we don’t have the time to.”