Being “out of fashion” is bad for your health. Thinking differently than others, being too old, considering yourself poor, belonging to an ethnic minority, or behaving differently from the majority are a direct path to frequent illness.
Stereotypes about weight, age, gender, income and lifestyle are harmful to health. They cause malaise and depression, increase blood pressure. This is evidenced by a study conducted at the University of Southern California1. Nearly 1500 men and women (average age 65) took part in it. The above ailments were felt by all those who consciously or unconsciously suffered from inconsistencies with stereotypes common in society about weight, age, gender, nationality, social level and lifestyle.
A separate issue that interested scientists: doctors who tried to tell patients about this problem fell into a kind of trap — they did not believe, did not trust and criticized (details below).
- Do you have inner strength
- Do you have phobias?
According to the study, at the top of the list of the most harmful stereotypes is, of course, age (for 8,3% of the respondents) and weight (for 8,3%). The next are income level (3%), gender (2,3%) and nationality (2,1%). In addition, the work carried out by scientists sheds light on the relationship between doctors and patients. It turns out that those who do not feel able to follow the recommendations of the doctor, in particular, in matters of a healthy lifestyle, begin to distrust this specialist. Moreover, dissatisfied patients express their disagreement with the prescribed treatment and generally try not to listen to the doctor (they criticize him and try to find another).
“17% of the people who took part in the study admitted that they feel vulnerable because of prejudice regarding their personality,” explains Cleopatra Abdou, general practitioner, specialist in geriatrics (a section of gerontology that deals with the study, prevention and treatment of diseases of old age). — The problem of stereotypes, ignoring diversity issues is greatly underestimated by both society and medical staff. With their negative judgments and assessments, they, unwittingly, alienate patients, including from disease prevention.”
- Why do we need stereotypes?
Some participants in the study complained that more, for example, do not get preventive flu shots. “Popular social prejudice turns medical campaigns for disease prevention into just another promotion and leads to the opposite effect,” the researcher explains. “To avoid this, it is necessary to include training in cultural and social skills in the training of future doctors and medical staff as soon as possible.” Medical schools and medical institutions should adopt development strategies that encourage diversity and do not reduce everyone and everything to habitual behavior and communication. This is the only way to defeat stereotypes and, accordingly, a potential threat to health.
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1 The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, ajpmonline.org