How the Medical System Lost Its Way with the best intention

Ever feel anxious about going to a doctor or health provider? Isn't it strange that the offices themselves add to that anxiety? Bright fluorescent lights, wax paper crunching underneath your every move, and a doctor running through a checklist of symptoms to confirm whatever diagnosis they landed on in the first minute.

America is one of two countries on the planet that allows direct-to-consumer prescription advertising — the "diseases" you might have, the pills that fix them. Ask your doctor about X today.

Especially since 2020, the paradigm has shifted. Medical staff almost never question or challenge a patient's diagnosis, and rarely go against the script. The top three for us: SSRIs, stimulants, and benzos. A perfect combo to quietly manage the masses and keep them contributing to the system with a smile.

Things used to be different. Doctors worked locally, with offices usually in their own homes. They would see their patients on the street, in the grocery store. They made house calls. Think about what that changes — not just the relationship, but the doctor's entire picture of the patient. Living conditions, environment, stress, context. Medicine was more holistic by necessity because doctors were embedded in the same community they were treating.

Now the system is built for throughput. The relationship is a transaction. And the anxiety you feel walking into that office isn't irrational — it's a reasonable response to an environment that was never really designed around you.