"Almost everyone has had at least one bad experience with the health care system-particularly in the United States, where both insurance and health care delivery lack consistency and coordination. And historically, certain groups-such as women and people of color-have faced discrimination and inequities in health care. Those bad experiences with health care can lead to mistrust of clinicians and the entire health care system."
"Combining those two characteristics-mistrust of the health care system and personal autonomy-can make people primed to look elsewhere for answers to their health care questions and needs. A diverse industry has developed to fill that need. Specifically, individuals and organizations take advantage of people's mistrust of health care by providing alternative information (a.k.a., "alternative facts") about how to treat their health problems or improve their overall health."
Bad experiences and historical inequities in health care generate deep mistrust of clinicians and systems. Expanded notions of body autonomy and medical freedom during the COVID pandemic reinforced individualistic decision-making about health. The combination of systemic mistrust and strong personal autonomy primes people to seek alternatives to mainstream medical advice. A commercial and social ecosystem has emerged to satisfy that demand by offering appealing alternative information. Charismatic communicators who use emotion and simple narratives frequently supply that information. Social platforms and monetization incentives enable broad dissemination of misleading or false health claims.
Read at Psychology Today
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