I worry sometimes that the skepticism I've learned from watching various media people promoting grifters (Oprah and Dr Oz is the biggest example, but there are others) has made it so I can't benefit from actually honest people with good medical backgrounds who actually want to help because the moment I see "large social media following" and "books on the NYT Bestseller list" I stop listening as my grifter sense goes into overdrive.
Brought to you by the MeSsy podcast today as they interviewed Dr. Daniel Amen, someone I know nothing about but who instantly sent my skepticism into overdrive because of the title of the book he's promoting which is Change Your Brain Change Your Pain. I turned it off about a minute into the interview, he'd barely begun speaking before I couldn't take it. When I do a google, there is nothing that alleviates that skepticism. So is he a genuine doctor who has good science and he's just also really good at self promotion and writing? Or is he a grifter who uses sciency sounding ideas to take advantage of people desperate for hope.
I hate that the second is a real possibility that I need to watch out for, but there are entirely too many grifters in the psuedo medical field. Like, the guy is a board certified psychiatrist so there should be some validity to his claims and yet. And yet.
