Why You Should Stop Playing Doctor On the Internet

September is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) Awareness Month and since this is a condition that I’ve been living with for nearly 10 years now I thought I would make content surrounding this condition in honor of this month. Today I figured we’d discuss something that doesn’t only affect people with PCOS but nearly everyone at one point or the other, people giving their unsolicited health commentary on the online, so here are three reasons why that’s a bad idea.

1. It’s insensitive

Do you not think that people with health conditions haven’t already tried everything that they can to help themselves feel better. For me for example, I’ve tried changing my diet to help lower my insulin levels and it didn’t help anything in my case that made it worth continuing inconveniencing myself while still dealing with debilitating pain. If it hurts to walk to my kitchen why would I want to have to make a more complex meal to avoid certain foods or just microwave something quick?

2. It’s potentially dangerous

I’ve seen a lot of “treatments” for PCOS and other ovarian conditions going around the internet lately and they all seem both unsafe and illogical. Most of these treatments don’t treat the root cause of these conditions and they don’t seem approved or safe to be used in or on the body. Why would you promote these kinds of products to people when you aren’t a doctor, you’re providing false hope and potentially dangerous advice to other people.

3. They have a doctor and it’s not you

This is truly the most important point here. You are not a doctor, please stop pretending to be one. You didn’t go to medical school, you don’t know their medical history, and you don’t know any details of my condition or what I’ve tried. I’ve seen this happen to people everywhere and it’s also emotionally exhausting.

If you have the same or similar condition there is a way to kindly approach someone with advice without playing internet doctor by asking if they’re open to that before making an unsolicited suggestion.

Have you experienced something like this? Let me know in the comments!