TOK IA Presentation

[RosiePosieSays]

Ok, so here's my topic for my TOK IA: How does media affect self-diagnosis of disease?
**Im looking for another way to word it perhaps, and what areas do you guys think would be important in mentioning? I wanted to talk about autism and depression, but i dont think that would be enough....any ideas?

[~Lc~]

isn't there that psychological thing where you think you're ill with something when you hear about the symptoms? mention that...

[Vvi]

Hypochondriac is the name for those people that think they are suffering from every kind of disease. It's an extreme form of self-diagnosis, and has a lot to do with emotion and reason because often the person has no rational reason for thinking they are ill. But they may have some emotional connection to a specific disease (e.g. their mother dies from something) and they don't want to die from any disease and suffer like she did.

You could talk about TV shows like ER and Grey's Anatomy where everyone seems to have cancer. That could be seen as a negative thing, because people then think they have all these diseases that they see on TV. And it normalizes the severity of some diseases, but also plays up the severity of others. TV is made to sell, so it has to be dramatic.

However, all the awareness campaigns like Livestrong and the pink/red ribbons ones for breast cancer and AIDS have positive effects, since they reinforce the need to be aware and get tested. You could also analyze the impact that celebrities have on media campaigns, like Lance Armstrong and Christina Applegate (both of whom had cancer). Their illnesses publicized the disease more, and they also say that they want more people to be aware of cancer so that they get tested early. There's a lot to do with psychology and the associations we have with "superhuman" celebrities.

When you think about it, all the magazine adverts encourage people to look out for their health these days. It's no longer about trusting everything your doctor says. People advise you to get a second opinion, and to go with your "gut instinct". If your body tells you something is wrong, listen to it.

[RosiePosieSays]

[quote name='Vvi' post='34853' date='Jan 27 2009, 04:35 PM']Hypochondriac is the name for those people that think they are suffering from every kind of disease. It's an extreme form of self-diagnosis, and has a lot to do with emotion and reason because often the person has no rational reason for thinking they are ill. But they may have some emotional connection to a specific disease (e.g. their mother dies from something) and they don't want to die from any disease and suffer like she did.

You could talk about TV shows like ER and Grey's Anatomy where everyone seems to have cancer. That could be seen as a negative thing, because people then think they have all these diseases that they see on TV. And it normalizes the severity of some diseases, but also plays up the severity of others. TV is made to sell, so it has to be dramatic.

However, all the awareness campaigns like Livestrong and the pink/red ribbons ones for breast cancer and AIDS have positive effects, since they reinforce the need to be aware and get tested. You could also analyze the impact that celebrities have on media campaigns, like Lance Armstrong and Christina Applegate (both of whom had cancer). Their illnesses publicized the disease more, and they also say that they want more people to be aware of cancer so that they get tested early. There's a lot to do with psychology and the associations we have with "superhuman" celebrities.

When you think about it, all the magazine adverts encourage people to look out for their health these days. It's no longer about trusting everything your doctor says. People advise you to get a second opinion, and to go with your "gut instinct". If your body tells you something is wrong, listen to it.[/quote]
thanks...and to the person who replied first...thats what i wanted to discuss but i wasnt sure what those types of people are labeled as...