Friday, July 8, 2016

How Scared Should I Be of Hospitals? | VICE

I've always liked hospitals in a way. They're clean, well-lit places, where smart people rush around trying to fix problems with modern technology.

But being in the hospital is hell. You surrender all power and turn into a prop, to be dealt with by people who are at work. They calmly break your skin, and think nothing of looking at your genitals or your shit. The whole experience is mostly just waiting for something interesting to happen, which means bouncing back-and-forth between boredom and creeping menace. And the whole time you're surrounded by the beeps and whirrs of machines that sound unmistakably like a TV character's death.

Fear of hospitals is visceral. It needs no explanation. But there are real risks involved in being at a hospital. Some, like waking up during surgery, can't be prevented by worrying. But steps can be taken to avoid some things, such as bacterial infections. So is there such a thing as a healthy fear of hospitals that we should actively cultivate?

More ...

http://www.vice.com/read/how-scared-should-i-be-of-hospitals?