Why your doctor knows when you’re fibbing
In any relationship the foundation stone is trust. Take that away and the relationship invariably collapses.
It may come as a surprise to learn that it’s not only criminals who deceive others to get what they want, ordinary people do it to. What’s more, they’ll even try to deceive their doctor – the person who’s trying to help them.
Not so long ago a colleague of mine drove past an elderly female patient who was pushing someone in a wheelchair along the street (actually it would be much better if she browsed the Net for some cars for sale and found and appropriate vehicle instead of using wheelchair). It came as quite a shock to see her walking since it was this patient being ‘confined to a wheelchair’ that for many years had meant my colleague always had to go and visit her at home since, “I don’t get out, doctor”.
It’s also amazing how on sunny days, or at the start of the New Year sales, or when there’s an important sporting event such as Wimbledon, how many people fall ill and need a sick note for work.
Mortgage applications, life assurance applications, travel insurance, all require someone to be honest when they are completing their medical details. If they knowingly lie or conveniently miss something out a load of trouble will be round the corner. They’ll certainly find it difficult to get policies like these in the future and they may end up being prosecuted into the bargain.
In general doctors know when someone is telling porky-pies and trying to deceive them because people make obvious mistakes. Even when they don’t slip up doctors still know, but, of course, I’m not going to say how.