getmygoat

My father and I are watching another trial on TruTV; in the case at hand, Marc Benayer is accused of shooting and killing Jonathan Samuels. Apparently TruTV is doing reruns of trials now, because my cursory online research says that Benayer has been found guilty and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison (which may not be all that long, since he was 79 at the time of the crime).

All verdicts aside, what piqued my interest was an interview with a guest (I apologize for the vagueness in some of my entries; I catch what I can and try to research the rest). The topic at hand was Benayer’s mental state; he was found competent to stand trial and elected to represent himself despite indications of advanced Alzheimer’s disease. The lady guest mentioned that mental illness is not particularly different from physical illness, but people many people view mental illness as a type of weakness.

Last week I just happened to read an article by a woman named Rose Galvin, and she was discussing just the opposite. Many chronic illnesses and conditions are often blamed on the sufferer in the current neoliberal system. We live in a society which prefers prevention over treatment. This is a fine philosophy, but many illnesses have more than one cause and cannot be avoided so easily.

Galvin gives the following example: A man has a heart attack, the doctors ask whether or not he has a good diet, smokes, drinks, etc. He had been eating good foods and avoiding toxins, but he did not work out regularly. The doctors decided that the heart attack happened because the man didn’t work out enough.

I see evidence of this with advertising all the time. Many weight loss programs claim that losing weight will reduce the chances of disease, which is true, but one cannot assume that one will be disease-free because he or she maintains a healthy lifestyle.

I experienced this mentality a few months ago when I came down with bronchitis. It was such a miserable experience that I actually went to a physician instead of toughing it out. I told her my lungs hurt; the first thing she asked me was whether or not I smoke. While I understand the rationale behind asking this question, I did not go to the doctor for lifestyle advice; I went to the doctor to get rid of the pain in my chest. And no, I don’t smoke; some other irritant must have caused the condition (perhaps secondhand smoke from my friends and family, but she never asked about that).

I am not claiming that some illnesses and conditions cannot be prevented; I do believe that maintaining a healthy lifestyle can benefit most people in the long run. I do, however, question the reasoning behind the system of prevention versus the system of treatment. Is it my responsibility as a citizen to be healthy? Am I somehow weak if I cannot maintain my vigorous work-out schedule and strict diet? What if I am poor and don’t have the means to take proper care of myself? Who is to blame for my condition if I become ill? Why are the people the problem and not the diseases?

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