Read Time: 2 minutes

Introduction:

Public trust in health and medicine tends to be stuck between two extremes. One side treats all medical guidance as unquestionable, while the other often completely rejects the basics. We need a healthy way to look at how to have a healthy scepticism in medicine and health.

What Healthy Scepticism Actually Means:

Healthy scepticism means questioning claims, recommendations and ways of doing things in a careful way based on reasonable evidence and/or reasonable reasoning.

*If you are unsure, it is generally safest to rely on a medical professional’s guidance.

What Happens if you are Over or Under-Sceptical:

Being over or under-sceptical can create risks for yourself or others, because too little scepticism can lead to accepting recommendations without understanding the risks, while too much scepticism can delay/prevent the right care.

Where Healthy Scepticism is Needed:

Situations where extra scepticism is especially important:

• Death or irreversible outcomes.
• Identity or deeply personal experience.
• Strong ideological or political incentives.
• Likelihood of having biases, including societal biases.
• Big financial incentives or conflicts of interest.

In these areas, the risks are higher, and scepticism is essential, but if something isn’t clear, it’s usually better to learn more so you can build trust.

How to Spot Distortion & Have a Healthy Scepticism:

The signs:

• Lack of transparency about risks, benefits or uncertainties.

• One-size-fits-all approach without acknowledging individual circumstances or insists there are only one / few medical options even though there may be other reasonable choices. (This doesn’t include harmful, impractical or immoral options).

• Dismissal of questions or concerns instead of answering them.

• Using language in ways that hide other options, being legalistic, which can be misleading or oversimplifying the situation.

It’s best to be sceptical when there is a mix of these signs, though keep in mind that none of them automatically mean there is any need to be sceptical. There should be a logical, coherent justification.

Past Examples:

Before we look at some examples, it is important to know that it is a logical fallacy to say today is free from all error; that would be a bias. There are many examples, but here are some from the 19th-21st centuries.

• Child transgender surgeries/puberty blockers
• Drapetomania
• Chemical imbalance theory for depression
• Hysteria
• lobotomies

What to Ask Medical Experts:

Examples of what to ask:

• Reasoning behind the recommendation.
• Alternatives and their risks.
• A second opinion if necessary.
• How urgent the decision is, and whether you can take time to think.

It is important to ask clear, practical questions so you understand the reality of the situation.

Conclusion:

Healthy scepticism is about finding a balance between asking questions, understanding risks and trust. We shouldn’t see everything as unquestionable or dismiss the basics, but instead aim for healthy scepticism.