I’ve gotten into a lot of arguments recently with anti-vaxxers online. I can’t help it. For a start, with ADHD it is easy to get distracted and hyper focus on something else. One thing that strikes me is that I always get told, “do your research” and, “educate yourself.” Both of these terms can be quite loaded in meaning, and are also quite broad. For example, I “did my research” when I wanted to buy a portable air on unit (an absolute God send in this heat). I went online and looked at reviews, and also looked at the specifications (like BTU- British Thermal Units) and what these meant and how big a space I would need the unit for. Reviews are essentially opinions and highly subjective. The reviewers didn’t carry out their own assessment of the product in a controlled environment such as a lab, with a control. They may give a bad review because they didn’t read the specs (not everyone does) and may have bought a unit too small for the room they needed cooling. They may not have read the instructions and not used it correctly. Reviews are information that can be found online by a simple search. Does this mean these are a completely reliable and truthful? Absolutely not.
To get to the point, much of the information online is opinion. Sometimes people expressing opinions may have PhD’s, be qualified doctors or healthcare professionals. Their credentials may seem impressive, and you may think any opinion they express is perfectly valid, and it may be in some cases. Unfortunately many speak outside their area of expertise, or may have opinions that are not well evidenced or researched. There are doctors (particularly in the USA) who will happily take your money and provide you with unproven treatments if you become desperate for the answers conventional medicine can’t give you, or if you simply do not wish to follow the conventional treatment route. There are some excellent websites that explore the evidence behind many alternative treatments, including Science Based Medicine and Quackwatch. Often these clinics and practitioners will often use the argument of “Big Pharma” and the huge sums of money it makes, to take your money and run.
Going back to the point on reviews. This is similar to when you see testimonials from particular treatments, herbs, supplements or whatever. “I slept really well from using this oil/ supplement/ device (delete as applicable)” is anecdotal evidence. It isn’t a double blind randomised control trial. That doesn’t mean the oil/ supplement/ device (delete as applicable) won’t help you sleep. You may well get the best night’s sleep of your life from it. However, without a proper double blind RCT, there are variables involved. One variable may be a placebo effect. You want it to work and maybe you spent a lot of money on it, or someone recommended it. You really believe it will help you sleep, and so it potentially does. It may also work in some people or have some therapeutic effect that may not be well researched. Or it may be that you just would have slept well that night anyway. Without the research, we can’t really say whether it is effective for sleep or not. Or, a small study may be carried out where results are “statistically insignificant” or only involve a small number of participants.
Going back to the anti-vaxxers/ people who think patients dying in critical care with Covid just need a combo of Vitamins C and D and whatever. “Do your research” they say. I ask for evidence to support their claims. They send me an anti-vaxx website or youtube video. I can end up going down a dangerous rabbit hole of searching databases to provide evidence that refutes their claims, or provides actual evidence of treatments that work. Dangerous because I’m doing a completely unrelated PhD and shouldn’t be wasting my time with this. Ah the joys of ADHD. Look! Squirrel! Why is it always a squirrel with ADHD? I’ve been told I don’t have a “balanced view” because I don’t believe this absolute guff they are posting, and the “evidence” they are presenting is poor.
My all time favourite argument with an anti-vaxxer/ Covid/ Polio denier who believed polio was caused by heavy metal toxicity (yes really), concluded wih him claiming that my healthcare training and even my PhD was all funded by “Big Pharma”, so I must be biased. My healthcare training was paid for by the British taxpayer via the NHS. As for my PhD, damn! Nobody told me “Big Pharma” was paying for it. Like an idiot, I have been paying my own fees. Frankly, “Big Pharma” wouldn’t be remotely interested in my research.
Another really annoying anti-vaxx thing that is hurtful and downright wrong, is when people think as a healthcare professional you are harming people, even killing them as part of some conspiracy. I have proudly given about 20 Covid vaccines and probably consented around 50. I’ve had two vaccines myself. The science and research behind these vaccines amazes me, and I trust the process of getting these approved quickly and ready to save lives. Vaccines are amazing. Thanks to them polio is very rare now. Yes I had that vaccine too. And any and all offered to me throughout my life. It protects not only me, but the patients I care for.
Another rant. Sorry not sorry. Vaccines do not cause autism or ADHD. Andrew Wakefield did not much damage with this one, and the research was carried out in a very biased and dishonest manner. There is a series in the BMJ that goes through his research and the case brought against him by the GMC. https://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c5347 As a researcher, I might not get the results I expect or even get a few curveballs, but I have to accept them. To start out planning my research to only get the answers I want would be completely unethical and wrong. As a qualitative researcher, I can’t eliminate bias completely but there is the principle of reflexivity, being open and honest about my positioning and how this may impact how I interpret and view my findings. It doesn’t mean this way of doing research is wrong. Facts and figures don’t really delve into people’s lived experiences in the same way.
So yes, I am educating myself (to the highest level) and doing my research. Sadly this involves much more than browsing websites and watching youtube videos, but I never expected it to be easy.
My ADHD PhD 