#im not anti vax im anti flu vax

[swagging-back-to]

i think it's very telling that i haven't gotten a flu shot since i was 4, ive only ever had influenza once in my memorable lifetime and it was last month. i got it from a specific kid.

this same kid who gets a flu shot every single year of her life and yet is deathly sick every single week, is always throwing up before school and shows up anyway, always has bright green snot dripping down to her neck.

[fiendishartist2]

........

[liminalweirdo]

#1 – Denial – Pretending a problem does not exist to provide artificial relief from anxiety. Examples:

“During COVID” or “During the pandemic” (past tense)

“The pandemic is over”

“Covid is mild”

“It’s gotten milder”

“Covid is now like a cold or the flu”

“Masks don’t work anyway”

“Covid is NOT airborne”

“Pandemic of the unvaccinated”

“Schools are safe”

“Children don’t transmit COVID”

“Covid is mild in young people”

“Summer flu”

“I’m sick but it’s not Covid”

Taking a rapid test only once

Using self-reported case estimates (25x underestimate) rather than wastewater-derived case estimation

Using hospitalization capacity estimates to enact public health precautions (lagging indicator)

Citing mortality estimates rather than excess mortality estimates. Citing excess mortality without adjusting for survivorship bias.

#2 – Projection – When someone takes what they are feeling and attempts to put it on someone else to artificially reduce their own anxiety. Examples:

“Stop living in fear.” (the attacker is living in fear)

“You can take your mask off.” (they are insecure about being unmasked themselves)

“When are you going to stop masking?”

“You can’t live in fear forever.”

#3 – Displacement – When someone takes their pandemic anxiety and redirects their discomfort toward someone or something else. Examples:

Angry, seemingly inexplicable outbursts by co-workers, strangers, or family

White affluent people caring less about the pandemic after learning that it disproportionately affects lower-socioeconomic status people of color

Scapegoating based on vaccination status, masking behavior, etc.

“Pandemic of the unvaccinated”

Vax and relax

“How many of them were vaccinated?” (troll comment on Covid deaths or long Covid)

Redirecting anxiety about mitigating a highly-contagious airborne virus by encouraging people to do simple ineffective mitigation like handwashing

“You do you” (complainers are the problem, not Covid)

Telling people to get vaccinated or take other precautions against the flu or RSV but not mentioning Covid

Parents artificially reducing their own anxiety by placing children in poorly mitigated environments

Clinicians artificially reducing their own anxiety by placing patients in poorly mitigated environments

Housework to distract from stress

Peer pressure not to mask

#4 – Compartmentalization – Holding two conflicting ideas or behaviors, such as caution and incaution, rather than dealing with the anxiety evoked by considering the incautious behaviors more deeply (hypocrisy)

Examples:

Hospitals and clinicians claim to value health/safety but then don’t require universal precautions

Public health officials claim to value evidence but then give non-evidence based advice (handwashing over masking), obscure or use low-value data over high-quality data (self-reported case counts over wastewater), etc.

Getting a flu vaccine but not a Covid vaccine

Interviewing long Covid experts who recommend masking in indoor public spaces but then going to Applebee’s

Masking in one potentially risky setting (grocery store) but not masking in another similar or more-risky setting (classroom)

Infectious disease conference where people are unmasked

Long Covid and other patient-advocacy meetings where only half the people mask

In-person only EDI events

Not testing because it’s just family

Mask breaks

#5 – Reaction formation – expressing artificial positive feelings when actually experiencing anxiety

Examples:

“It’s good I got my infection out of the way before the holidays”

“I had Covid but it was mild”

Anything quoted in Dr. Jonathan Howard’s book, “We Want Them Infected: How the Failed Quest for Herd Immunity Led Doctors to Embrace Anti-Vaccine Movement”

Herd immunity (infections help)

Hybrid immunity (infections help)

“It’s okay because I was recently vaccinated”

“Omicron is milder”

“Textbook virus”

“Building immunity”

#6 – Rationalization – Artificially reducing Covid anxiety through a weak justification. Examples:

“I didn’t mask but I used nasal spray”

“I don’t need to mask because I was recently vaccinated”

“It finally got me.”

“You’re going to get Covid again and again and again over your life.”

“It’s not Covid because I don’t have a sore throat.”

“It’s not Covid because I took a rapid test 3 days ago.”

“It’s not Covid because I’m vaccinated.”

“Airplanes have excellent ventilation.”

“I’ve had Covid three times. It’s mild.”

“Verily was cheaper.”

“Nobody else is masking.”

“Nobody else is testing.”

“My roommates don’t take any precautions, so there’s no point in me either.”

“I have a large family, so there’s no point in taking precautions.”

Surgical masks (they are actual “procedure masks,” by the way)

Various pseudo-scientific treatments used by the left and right

Handwashing as the primary Covid public health recommendation

Droplet transmission as a thing

Public health guidance that begins with “data shows” (sic)

Risk maps that never turn deep red

5 expired rapid tests

“Masks recommended” instead of universal precautions

“Seasonal”

#7 – Intellectualization – using extensive cognitive arguments to artificially circumvent Covid anxiety Examples:

Unending threads to justify indoor dining

Data-rich public health dashboards that use low-quality metrics and/or don’t change public health recommendations as risk increases

The entire justification for “off-ramps”

Oster, Wen, Prasad

Schools denying air cleaners because it “could make children anxious”

Schools not rapid testing this surge because it “could make children anxious”

The mental gymnastics underlying the rationales for who can get vaccinated, how frequently, or with what brand

Service workers told not to mask because it could make clients uncomfortable

“What comorbidities did they have?”

“The vulnerable will fall by the wayside”

Musicians and others holding large indoor events

5-day isolation periods

Here's a link to the full book, a newer edition than what I own. The information on defense mechanisms begins on textbook page 100. Please let me know if there's a more accessible alt-text solution that you would prefer so I can do better next time."

- Mike Hoerger, PhD MSCR M

source

If you actually got to the end of this and don't remember what you're reading because the cognitive dissonance surrounding covid being "over" is so extreme, it's a list of the ways people downplay covid without any science-backed evidence. How many things on this list do you say, do, or believe?

[lunarsilkscreen]

Covid

People don't know how Covid actually started.

I mean socially identified here, like when doctors started to notice something strange going on with people's respiratory systems. I only know it because I was seeing the AF clinic once a week for various reasons from physical health, to mental health, and later dealing with all that and being trans.

This is how it started;

It wasn't like we know it now. "Oh there's this flu-like viral contagion going around." It was "healthy-ass non-smoking individuals are showing up with PNEUMONIA" and they couldn't figure out why that was.

"They" in this context meaning the medical professionals and health care community. And I only know because I was listening to them whisper to each other about it. I didn't think a whole lot of it till much later.

There's some anti-vax bros trying to say that "oh it's only smokers dying from Covid". And I'm telling you; that's not what the front-line physicians were seeing. They were seeing health peak-fitness 20-somethings *randomly* get pneumonia like they were [insert racist joke about swimming here]

Like they were just showing up at hospital "DOC I FEEL LIKE IM DROWNING."

For the longest time it was this mystery thing going on in high-pop and airport hubs (the big airports like your DFW and your DTW and your other big three letter airports.)

They thought it was specifically something going on with people's lungs. It wasn't till a year or so before the pandemic was a thing that needed to be talked about by the president that we knew it was a viral thing and had a lot of symptoms in common with the flu.

Reminder; When the flu first started, we had much the same situation with people dying from it. That it wasn't as bad from Covid should tell you something.

Check out the spanish-flu to see how bad it *could* have been

[dawnowar]

Post from the future 12/30/2023

At this point i'm on the last day of my antibiotics for my sinus infection which may or may not be working. I felt better than before but I still feel like i have a sinus infection. Everyone in the office got sick and i thought I was going to be fine because I had my flu shot, my covid shot and i was on anti-biotics. I ran the office by myself for one day and I did a great job. I was on top of everything but as the day got later i started feeling unwell and by the time the day was over I knew I was sick. It was Friday and i figured i was gonna lose the weekend. I had no idea i was going to have the worst flu I think I've ever had and it would turn into bronchitis that lingered for at least 3 1/2 weeks before i stopped coughing and I still had stuff in my lungs for.. well i still do have stuff in my lungs now.. and the sinus infection never fully went away either. I should have a real ENT look in there but im switching health insurance in two more days so thats going to have to wait.

I got a much bigger and more powerful humidifier yesterday and that seems to be helping everything in just the one day ive had it running. Even though i had one the whole time. I guess it wasnt good enough. So im hopeful today that this is the reason for years and years ive had recurring problems with sore throats, bronchitis and sinus infections. Its just too dry in here.

It's a working theory.

anyway back to time of the photos im posting. This is the beginning of sickness #4.

My boss' ended up in the hospital pooping blood so i guess if i got really bad bronchitis i still got off easy here. His wife thinks I was somehow more susceptible to getting it because i was on antibiotics at the time. Said thats a thing but I've never heard that before.

So we know it was the flu since my boss went to the hospital for it and they tested him. The flu shot didnt work for me this year. But i'll still keep getting it cause it didn't do any harm and anti-vax people are fucking dumb idiots.

[lofeel]

[felsartdump]

in the wake of all of the horror I’m hearing about whats going on in China I thought I’d just casually say

GET YOUR FUCKING FLU SHOTS.

its MORE dangerous than the fucking virus everyone is suddenly claiming to be terrified of.

[starryeyedhoe]

im gonna vomit

[allamericansbitch]

oh no why can’t you get the vaccine?

for medical reasons, i have a lot of serious allergies that are common in some vaccines and that make it far too risky for me to get it. 

[fairycosmos]

hey bestie I tested positive for COVID this morning and it's really freaking me out... I've got p mild symptoms but I'm so scared cuz I'm isolating with my parents rn and it's like a matter of time until they get it like what if I end up killing them oh my god I'd kill myself,, I'm p sure I got it from one of my flatmates, he's anti vax and everyone did tests today after I tested positive and a bunch of us all have it him included, and he's arguing that he doesn't have to isolate unless he feels poorly which he doesn't so he's talking about going clubbing oh my god I hate this man!!

omg i actually want to push your roommate into oncoming traffic!! seething omfg i genuinely can’t fathom that ppl like that exist ugh im so sorry :( if it’s any comfort, it’s very likely that your symptoms will stay mild. for me it was like a really strong and long lasting flu, but im sure if you’ve had your vaccinations you’ll absolutely be okay. also i isolated in the same flat as my mam and didn’t give it to her! it is possible :) i stayed in my room the entire time i was testing positive and anything that came in and out of my room (plates, cups, medicine) was heavily sanitised. i wore three masks to go to the toilet and didn’t touch anything unnecessarily when i was in there. any small steps you can take will go along way. i want to say though that it genuinely won’t be your fault if your parents do catch it, you’re clearly doing everything you can to prevent the spread and at this point the only ppl to blame are the government and the ppl like your roommate :/ a few things that helped me: eating a spoonful of honey + hot water and lemon for the cough, smelling perfume/essential oils to bring back taste and smell, drinking a lot of water, sleeping a ton, keeping the room well ventilated, cold rags for the fever. i was also having panic attacks often worrying about killing my mam, it was fucking awful and i totally get it. i hope im not relating this too much to my experiences lol it’s just really similar to what i went through, sorry about that. ultimately whenever i felt overwhelmed, i tried to focus solely on what was in my control. i also ordered a pulse oximeter which monitors your oxygen levels and can be really good for keeping your anxiety down and making sure your lungs are ok, i recommend that if it’s an option. anyway, i really hope you get well soon and that you and your parents get through this just fine ❤️ keep your distance from them for now and look after yourself, love. take it one day at a time. wishing you a speedy recovery x

[surveysonfleek]

1622.

Have you ever gotten a flu vaccination? tbh i dont think i ever have! im not anti vax or anything (i had the covid vaccine) but yeah, just never thought to get the flu shot

Do you know anyone who drives a BMW? yes

Honestly, do you give a shit? not about much haha

When’s the last time you hugged your mother? lmao i dont remember. i think when she went on an interstate trip. we also kiss and hug each other only when we drop each other at the airport

What’s the last restaurant you ate at? pho

Double dates: a do or don’t? theyre fine

Do you know any guitarists? yes

Quick, name 3 of your favorite radio stations: i dont listen to the radio

How do you feel about full length beards? i dont like them on my fiance at all lol

Have you ever been to a circus? years ago. i havent seen any around in a loooong time

Do you know anyone who’s gone to a Fat Camp? no

Are you straight-edge? yes

Do you use Facebook IM everyday? yes

How many surveys have you done already today? three now

What’s the WORST show on Adult Swim? i dont have that channel

Do you have any relatives that have shunned you, or vice versa? nope

Has anyone ever posted a HORRIBLE picture of you for everyone to see? haha yes all the time. my heart always drops when i get tagged in a photo on ig or fb

Which grade in school was the most fun for you? hmm maybe 11? idk aha

Which would you rather have, a new puppy or kitten? puppy

Does drama seem to follow you everywhere you go? nope, im drama free baby

Do you ever just want to go away to a new place where no one knows you? nah, my city is big enough that not everyone knows me

You’re ordering a pizza, you can have any kind of toppings, what are they? i actually wouldnt care about the topping, id request the cheese filled crusts

Do you hit ‘quiet’ or ‘ignore’ on your cell? Which one usually? ignore lol

Do you ever regret giving your number to people? nope. only companies if im honest haha

Have you ever been told that you’re afraid of your own shadow? no

Have you ever tried Gouda cheese? yes. i dont really remember the taste of it

Does/did your high school have pop machines? nope

Do you use a public computer, or do you have your own? i have my own

Do you ever find it odd how you type LOL when you’re not really laughing? yup lol. its just a way to break awkwardness or to sound ‘friendly’

Have you ever gambled? yassss, its a pastime for my bf and i. havent gone in ages

Do you know anyone who’s won the lottery? nope

If you could work at any retail store, which one would it be? bath and body works

What’s the shortest you would ever cut your hair? just below my shoulders. i wouldnt suit short hair

Do you listen to any deathcore? no

Do you subscribe to any teen magazines? Which ones? nope

Do you know someone who never smiles? haha yes

Has anyone ever made you feel uncomfortable at work? no

Do you still watch South Park? no

Tell me one movie you’ve seen recently that sucked: brazen, its on netflix

Have you ever carved something into a dinner booth somewhere? no

When’s the last time you were carded at a bar? its bit a minute lol. i think im officially past the age of getting carded, i mustnt look that young anymore :(

Do you smoke little cigars? Have you ever tried them? ive tried them. i dont like it

You’re babysitting, what do you expect per hour for pay? ive never babysat ever lol

What’s the last thing you returned at a store? an icecream machine

What’s the name of the last cat you pet? haha i dont remember, i dont touch cats

Do you still look at clouds and make shapes of them? nope

If you had to dye your hair for one year, what color would you pick? light brown

Who’s got your heart? my fiance

[uncloseted]

my mom believes in homeopathy and i don't know what to do. our town homeopath died not so long ago so she won't be recommending him to people anymore, but she still believes in the system. apparently he cured my brother's hyperthyroidism and my nephew's alopecia. she says that he went to tons of real doctors and the only thing that worked was homeopathy. that left me speechless. im still skeptical but how do you explain that? and if it's a placebo but it works, then why shouldn't we use it?

This answer is going to be a long one, so I apologize in advance. Apologies also for how long this has taken for me to write and publish. As always, I want to make sure that I answer every part of this question with thought, care, and sources. To make it easier to navigate, I'm going to add headers for each section. What are Homeopathic "Remedies"? The first thing I want to do is clarify what homeopathic "remedies" actually are and what the theory behind homeopathy is. Often, I think we imagine that homeopathy is just herbalism- using "natural" plants as "medicine". By itself, doing that is kind of a dubious approach to treating illness, but it can be at least somewhat effective. It's important to understand that that's not what homeopathy is. Homeopathy is an alternative "medicine" practice created in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann as a reaction to the mainstream medicine of the late 18th century. Hahnemann's homeopathy is based on the doctrine that "like cures like"- that a disease can be cured by a substance that produces similar symptoms to that disease in healthy people. In order to prevent those symptoms from occurring as a result of the "remedy", homeopathy also subscribes to something called the “law of minimum dose”—the notion that the lower the dose of the medication, the greater its effectiveness. This is inconsistent with what science knows about dose-response relationships, where the effect of a dose is reliant on the concentration of the active ingredient. Many homeopathic products are so diluted that no molecules of the original active ingredient remain. Modern advocates of homeopathy have suggested that water "remembers" the substances mixed in it, and transmits the effect of those substances when it's consumed. This isn't consistent with our scientific understanding of matter. Homeopathy also traditionally includes the concept of "miasms" as the "infectious principle" behind illnesses (including illnesses like epilepsy, cancer, deafness, and cataracts). Miasms are a negative force (imagined to be kind of like a cloud or fog) that serve no purpose other than to make humans miserable and ultimately kill them. Traditionally, homeopaths believe that individual symptoms should not be alleviated, since it will only drive the miasm deeper and the miasm will "manifest itself as diseases of the internal organs". They believe that in order to cure illness, the miasm must be removed from the "vital force". The concept of miasms have become less popular in modern times, but there are still homeopaths who base their practice around it. It's important to know that none of these ideas are backed by the scientific method, nor have they been shown to be effective when subjected to the scientific method. That said, you can kind of see concepts in homeopathy that are 18th century explanations for phenomena that are real. For example, "like cures like" and "law of minimum dose" is actually kind of how vaccines work: you give a very small bit ("a minimum dose") of a disease-causing microorganism or an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism ("like cures like"), which trains the body's immune system to recognize that agent as a threat. Another example is airborne infectious diseases. It is possible to get certain illnesses (such as COVID-19, measles, chickenpox, the flu, and norovirus) if you encounter a "miasm" (what we now call droplets of an airborne infectious disease). The problem with homeopathy is that it's not the 18th century anymore. Science has moved on from using "like cures like" and "miasms" as explanations for illness. We know that "like cures like" is not an effective treatment for every illness, and we know that not all illnesses are "miasms" (airborne). We have a better grasp of things like genetics, viruses, infections, and environmental factors that allow us to more effectively understand what causes illnesses and how to provide effective, reliable treatments for those illnesses. What's the Harm? Problems with Homeopathic "Remedies" Moving on, I want to start with

your last question first. If homeopathic "remedies" are a placebo and they work, why shouldn't we use them? What's the harm? There are three main problems with using homeopathic "remedies" that I want to discuss. The first and most important answer is just that they don't work. I'll do a deeper dive on the evidence against homeopathic "remedies" and why homeopathic "remedies" don't work in a second, but for now, just know that the first problem is that homeopathy can't fix the health problems people are looking to solve. The placebo effect is pretty limited in its scope; it generally works for subjective, patient-reported outcomes such as pain and nausea, but it doesn't usually affect the actual disease. For example, when the placebo effect is used to treat insomnia, patients perceive that they've slept better, but it doesn't actually improve the amount of time it takes a person to fall asleep. The second problem is that homeopathic "remedies" aren't always harmless. While they're generally "unlikely to provoke severe adverse reactions", there have been cases of those "remedies" being taken off of the market because they've caused serious symptoms such as seizures. In the US, homeopathic "remedies" aren't overseen by the FDA in the same what that medications are. As a result, there's no assurance that the substance you think you're getting is what you're actually getting. Frequently, "remedies" are a waste of money because they don't have enough of the active ingredient to work at all. This is especially true if the product you're getting is a "dilution", which intentionally gets rid of the molecules of the original material as a result of the "law of minimum dose", but it can even be true of things like nutritional supplements that you can buy at CVS or Walmart. In the US, there's no group tasked with objectively testing the claims made by companies that sell "remedies", and there's no group making sure that "remedies" don't have ingredients in them that are unsafe. Belladonna, arsenic, and poison ivy have been found at detectable levels in homeopathic "remedies", and cases of arsenic poisoning in particular have occurred. But because homeopathic products are marketed as if they're "drugs", many people assume they wouldn't be allowed to be sold if they weren't good, if they didn't work, or if they were advertising falsely, and so they keep buying them. If you see an individual homeopath, this problem is compounded. "Homeopath" is not a protected term in the US, meaning that anyone can claim to be one. In turn, this means that there's no licensing board that oversees their work, no professional association or government agency that keeps them accountable for their mistakes, and no educational credentials that they need to begin practicing. Your local homeopath may have no background in biology, medicine, chemistry, pharmacology, or even homeopathic or alternative medicine practices. They can literally just be a person, one who you're trusting to cure your ailments and to not accidentally poison you in the process. The last issue I want to bring up is that homeopathy is often (although not always) viewed as being an acceptable replacement for evidence-backed medicine. This means that often, people who see a homeopath aren't seeing a medical doctor, and their symptoms aren't being treated by evidence-based medicine. By not taking an evidence-based approach to intervening in illness, outcomes are significantly worsened, especially for serious, life-threatening conditions such as cancer. Patients have died as a result of opting to take a homeopathic approach to illness instead of receiving proper treatment for diseases that could have been easily managed by evidence-backed medicine. This becomes an even bigger problem when it comes to public health issues. People who view homeopathy as being equal to or better than evidence-backed medicine are more likely to be anti-vaxxers and to not vaccinate their children. Reductions in vaccination rates have led to resurgences of diseases that had previously

been close to elimination. The US has seen a resurgence of whooping cough, measles, and tetanus as a result of anti-vax sentiment. Those resurgences directly endanger people who cannot be vaccinated due to chronic health issues, people with allergies to ingredients in vaccines, and people who cannot choose to be vaccinated, such as children. How Effective Are Homeopathic "Remedies"? Next, let's talk about studies that look into the efficacy of homeopathic "remedies". Government level reviews of homeopathic "remedies" have been conducted by the UK, Australia, and the European Academies' Science Advisory Council. The UK's study found that there was "no compelling evidence of effect". Australia conducted a meta-analysis of 1800 papers, and found that "there were no health conditions for which there was reliable evidence that homeopathy was effective." EASAC found that there was a lack of evidence that homeopathic products are effective, and raised concerns about quality control. Additionally, there have been systemic reviews and meta-analyses of the efficacy of homeopathic "remedies" from doctors, universities, and medical researchers. In 2005, The Lancet (one of the world's oldest, best-known, and respected medical journals) published a meta-analysis looking at the efficacy of homeopathy. Basically, that means that they looked at data from 110 homeopathy trials. These trials were included in the study because they had a completely randomized set of patients who don't know whether they were getting a "homeopathic treatment" or a placebo pill. This type of "blinded" study allows researchers to see how effective the intervention (in this case, a homeopathic "treatment") actually is. Their findings were, "compatible with the notion that the clinical effects of homeopathy are placebo effects". Meta-analyses have also been conducted on the application of homeopathy for individual diseases, including cancer, ADHD, asthma, insomnia, fibromyalgia, dementia, IBS, osteoarthritis, migraines, ecchymosis and edema, and dermatological conditions, and all have found the same result. The UK's NHS, the American Medical Association, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the National Health Service and Medical Research Council of Australia, the World Health Organization, the American College of Medical Toxicology, the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and even the acting deputy director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine have all come out against the use of homeopathy, saying that there's "no good quality evidence that homeopathy is effective as treatment for any health condition", recommending that no one use homeopathic "treatments" for disease or as a preventative health measure, and noting that there is evidence that using these treatments can produce harm and indirect health risks. But it Seems Like it Works! What Else Could Have Happened? In terms of what happened with your brother's hyperthyroidism and your nephew's alopecia, I'm perfectly happy to admit that I have no idea. I don't know what the homeopath gave them or what else they were taking or what else they were doing during that period of time that might have changed their health status. I can offer you some hypotheses (and I will in a second), but I don't know, and that's okay. What I do know about is the current state of research on homeopathic "remedies" overall, and how it holds up when subjected to the scientific method. There are a few common culprits for why homeopathy may seem to work. I'm going to go over those now, and then I'll dig into some theories for what may have happened with your brother and nephew. These culprits include:

Placebo effect- we talked about this one earlier, but essentially, if people believe that a "treatment" will work, they're also more likely to believe the "treatment" worked after taking it. As a result, they will report feeling better on subjective measures such as pain.

Natural healing- with time, the body can sometimes heal itself without medical assistance. This is most common for things like viruses.

Therapeutic effect of consultation- care, concern, and reassurance from a compassionate caregiver can have a positive impact on the patient's assessment of their well-being, even if objective assessments of their well-being stay the same.

Regression towards the mean- many conditions and diseases are cyclical. The patient may notice a decrease in symptoms that they attribute to homeopathic "remedies", but are actually just a result of moving to a different stage of the disease cycle.

Cessation of unpleasant treatment- a homeopath may suggest that patients stop receiving medical treatment. Medical treatments can sometimes have unpleasant side effects, and so halting those treatments can make the patient feel better in the short term. The patient attributes the decrease in symptoms to the homeopathic "remedy" but it's actually that they stopped taking a medication that has side effects. In the short term, this feels good, but in the long term it is destructive because the disease isn't being treated.

Non-homeopathic treatment- the patient is also receiving medical care, and the medical care is responsible for the decrease in symptoms, not the homeopathic "remedy".

Unrecognized treatments- an unrelated food, exercise, environmental agent, treatment for a different ailment, etc. is also treating the patient's medical condition and is responsible for the decrease in symptoms.

For alopecia areata (hair loss in patches on the scalp), spontaneous remission is actually more common than you might expect. In most cases that begin with a small number of patches of hair loss, hair grows back after a few months to a year. It's possible that your nephew's hair just... grew back, especially if time had passed. It's also possible your nephew's parents were treating his alopecia other ways (minoxidil, contact immunotherapy, corticosteroids, a gluten free diet if the alopecia was associated with celiac disease) and just didn't tell you or your mum. Hyperthyroidism is a bit more difficult to guess at. It could be that your brother's medical doctors switched him to a different medication that did work or changed his dosage. If you're sure that's not it, it could be that he switched his diet to one that's low iodine and low in caffeine. Research suggests that, although a low iodine diet cannot cure hyperthyroidism, it can reduce or alleviate the symptoms in some people. If your brother went vegetarian, vegan, or stopped eating fish, that could be the culprit. If he stopped taking a multivitamin that contains iodine, that could be it. If he started eating a ton of foods high in goitrogens (soy, cassava, cabbage, cauliflower), that could also contribute to what happened, since goitrogens interfere with the uptake of iodine in the thyroid. It's also possible he was misdiagnosed, but if it's true that he went to "tons of real doctors", that seems fairly unlikely. Again, all of these are just guesses for the purpose of illustrating what confounding factors may have been present. I think the bottom line with stories like these are that you're hearing them secondhand. You don't know how many doctors your nephew or brother saw, or the quality of those doctors, or what they diagnosed, or what they prescribed, or how many different lifestyle changes they tried. You don't know what the homeopath prescribed them, or if they took it. You're hearing a story of miracles through the mouth of a believer, and that can make it difficult to know what is and isn't true (in a medically accurate kind of way). It's possible that your mum's homeopath has stumbled upon a treatment for alopecia and one for hyperthyroidism that work better than traditional medicine. I hope that's true. We can always use better treatments, especially for difficult-to-cure conditions like alopecia. But I think it's more likely that there's just some piece of information you weren't given. What do I do? Getting to your original question, there's not a ton of evidence-backed research (that I could find, at least) for how to change people's minds about homeopathy, but there is data on changing people's minds with regard to vaccines, and I think using those tactics may work in both cases. What to do about your mum's beliefs in homeopathy depend on where those beliefs come from, how entrenched they are, and how it's impacting her life. If she's just someone who tries lifestyle changes and supplements from CVS first before going to a doctor and if she believes in vaccination, homeopathy is a waste of time and money, but it's probably not too big of a problem. In that case, it may not be worth pushing her about it, especially if she hasn't found a new homeopath after her old one passed away. If she's anti-vax and/or refuses to see medical doctors, that's a bigger problem, and it's worth having a conversation about. Changing her views is likely to take time, so be prepared to have at least a few conversations about these topics. And be prepared to step away from the conversation and resume it at a later time if it becomes too contentious. Start by asking her about her fears with regard to evidence-backed medicine. Do your best to be curious rather than judgmental in those conversations and to be a good listener. Respect is the most important tool in changing a person's mind, so try not to interrupt, be dismissive, or combat her beliefs off the bat. Affirm her right to have questions (but not the validity of the actual concern), and

try to say positive things about her in the conversation (for example, "I can see you really want to do everything you can to keep yourself healthy and safe"). Focus on her feelings, not facts. By trying to understand where she's coming from, you can begin to understand where her hesitations are and how those fears might be remedied. For example, a lot of people who believe in homeopathy do so in part because they feel like homeopathic practitioners listen to them, respect them, and care about them more than medical doctors do. They've usually had a bad experience with medical doctors. Knowing where her fears lie gives you a better idea of what she needs in a medical context, and can help you figure out how to dispel misconceptions she has about medicine or find alternatives that actually work. In the case of feeling like medical doctors don't respect her, you may be able to help your mum find a medical doctor who will spend longer with her and really listen to what she has to say. You can try asking her follow-up questions that allow her to investigate her own beliefs. For example, you might try asking about Hahnemann's ideas of "like cures like", "the law of minimum dose" or "water memory" and see how she reacts. Many people, even those who use homeopathic "remedies", don't know the principles that it's based on, and will eventually express skepticism when asked to explain them. It's tempting to try and combat pseudoscience with facts, but studies suggest that presenting facts makes people more likely to cling to their original beliefs. It's better to let people investigate their beliefs on their own through asking the right questions. You might also try this technique. Ask her how likely she would be to see a medical doctor/get a vaccine, on a scale of 0-10. If she says 1 or 0, this strategy isn't going to work. But if she says 2 or 3, then you can ask her why she's not a 0. Why is she not fully saying she won't see a medical doctor or get a vaccine? This forces her to explain what she thinks the positives of medical doctors/vaccinations are. Now you're on the same side; you both think there are some positives to the medical profession. Reinforce those ideas when you talk to her. From there, you can ask what would make her more likely to see a medical doctor/get a vaccine, and when she answers, you can point to the places where those things exist in the medical field. If nothing else works, you could try finding ways to make evidence-based medicine and vaccination compatible with her beliefs. Perhaps you could try using the language of homeopathy to explain medical issues and their treatments. For example, with COVID, it might work to tell her that COVID is a miasm, and that researchers used "like cures like" and the “law of minimum dose” to create a vaccine to remove the miasm from the "vital force". All of that is technically true, at least in a sense. It's just not the language scientists would use to describe what happens. To Sum It Up The medical establishment definitely has issues it needs to work on. The lack of compassionate, respectful care in many medical settings is a real problem, and it has real consequences. There are some situations in which a placebo is a potentially valid approach to treatment. But the answer is not to encourage homeopathy. It's to do more research, develop better drugs, and change the ways that doctors interact with their patients. Homeopathy doesn't work, and it does potentially have harmful side effects, both on a personal and societal level. The way we can combat homeopathy is to be curious and respectful, to help people identify and work through their concerns, and to offer them solutions to their medical problems that take those concerns into account.

[praeteritus-memories]

tbh im not getting the vaccine simply because i hate being told what to do

(What a childish response for not only keeping yourself safe from a deadly disease that’s killed HALF. A. MILLION. PEOPLE. In one whole fucking year (that’s more than what the flu kills in a year if you wanna pull up that fucking BS on me.) but keeping people’s loved one’s safe. Yes there are people who want the vaccine but can’t get it due to medical reasons (pregnancy, cancer treatment, underage, etc etc) so to say “I don’t want to get it because I don’t wanna be told what to do” is not only lazy, it’s irresponsible and downright disgusting. 

This better be some fucking meme going around or something because I do not want to hear any more of that kind of bullshit talk on my dash or in my inbox. If you wanna be anti-vax because you’re a stupid mother fucker, kindly fuck off.)

[aalt-ctrl-del]

this is my fav segment out of this mess:

“ Most troubling of all, perhaps, was a sentiment the expert said a member of Kushner’s team expressed: that because the virus had hit blue states hardest, a national plan was unnecessary and would not make sense politically. “The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy,” said the expert.“

Correct me if I’m wrong, but all the states that forced premature re-openings - the RED states - are the ones where the pandemic is hitting hardest right now? But at the time, Blue states were IN FACT hit hard, because no one was prepared. No one realized the virus was already in the US. But in that same essay, many Blue states have been able to take control of this crisis, and maintain steady hold of an otherwise out of control contamination spread primarily by nose-breathing-mask-denying-anti-vaxxing-plague-bearing-lunatics, with a ragging erection for mistake in chief donald joke.

But you gotta appreciate how everything trumps debacle group says and does, always comes out to be an opposite.

“It’ll go away in the summer. Like a miracle, the chinese flu will go away.”

- trump, February 2020

It is more damning though, that regardless the authenticity of this article - and it is 120% authentic, you conspiracy mistakes - this then indicates that in this time no one has been working on a rigorous testing plan, or has created a response team for contact tracing, or has worked to build up an updated testing process. We have testing, but it is OUTDATED, by murican standards. Resources are on the endangered species list, and tests are delayed by a week or more. So what has the WH been doing all this time? 

Oh, yus, Im sorry. trumps failure squad planned a campaign rally in Tusla, and Phoenix, and Michigan. Sounds fun.

[fishiest-fish]

im literally begging my parents to get vaccinated for the flu shot this really be life huh

I've never struggled with something like that, but idk of anyone has some tips or anyway to help

Also

*insert joke about how anti-vax kids only love to be 3*

[lesbianexorcist]

there is an extremely deadly avian flu going around right now that is threatening backyard poultry flocks and to see the anti-vax cunts in local fb groups not taking it seriously/‘oh its just another covid hoax but for chickens’ bullshit is just… this has a 100% mortality rate if ur flock gets it. Im so scared for my birds literally crying imaging all my birds dropping dead or testing positive and state officials coming to euth the rest like this is serious