Is it normal to feel helpless and angry at a friend's dangerous ignorance?

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6 Comments

A friend of mine who already survived one bout with cancer now has it again (skin cancer). He's always been an iconoclast about health and believes in homeopathic medicine more than doctors, a stance I don't share at all. Now, he's trying to cure himself with a raw food diet and refuses to go to a doctor, insisting that the "life force" from what he eats will heal him. It won't.

People who love him have tried to convince him to adopt his new diet while going to the doctor for traditional treatment too. He won't hear of it and doesn't trust doctors. I can't stand seeing this man die of his own ignorance of science and medicine, but I can't change his mind. I'm so angry at all the quack sites that tell people they don't need doctors but can heal through some crazy diet (or faith, or crystals, or any of the other crackpot pseudo-science people would rather believe). People die of ignorance, and some bastards are making money off it by selling diet plans or garlic pills!

is it normal to feel helpless at watching this happen and not being able to do anything about it? I don't know what to do.

Voting Results
87% Normal
Based on 60 votes (52 yes)
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Comments ( 6 )
  • q25t
    11 years ago

    You can give him the information, but you can't force him to read or understand it.

    If you've done what you can to inform him, I don't know that you can do much else. I do really wish this was a non-issue. This pseudo science crap really pushes the limits of understanding I have with people.

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  • howaminotmyself
    11 years ago

    Skin cancer is the most treatable form of cancer. This is when western medicne excels. However not all alternative therapies are rooted in pseudoscience. It is possible to use both.

    Western medicine is great for trauma, emergiencies, and extreme situations. But it can't do a thing for the common cold. This is when a healthy balance of western and eastern medicine should be applied. Western medicine tends to only treat symptoms and not the source of the problem. Take muscle pain as an example. Sure, a pain killer will ease the pain, but a hot bath with epsom salt will actually relax the muscles and elminate the pain, not just cover it up.

    As for your friend, attacking his beliefs will not help. The brain is a powerful tool in the healing process. It may only be a placebo effect, but sometimes that's enough to kick the immune system in gear. Maybe your friend could be talked into treating the cancer with western medicine, and using alternative therapies for the recovery process. There are doctors who will work with both.

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  • SuperBenzid
    11 years ago

    Gather round everyone that agrees with you and stage an intervention. If he doesn't stop his path to suicide then cut attachments. It is unreasonable for him to ask you to watch him commit to this path of slow suffering. Let him know that if he is committed to being that stupid then he is doing it on his own.

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  • lufa
    11 years ago

    This is Evolution in action-dumb fucks like your friend will weed themselves out of the gene pool-we'll be better for it.

    Oh if only stupidity was fatal more often, humanity would definitely advance prodigiously.

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  • Terence_the_viking
    11 years ago

    Half the cure is believing it.

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  • sisterlover
    11 years ago

    who cares about cancer. People die from it every day. My hero frank zappa died of cancer and I'm not crying. Stop whining and get me some firewood

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