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The Uncomfortable Psychology of Medical Victim-Blaming
The truth, that anyone could be struck down, is too scary to bear
The last time Brendan Ahern got sick, there were hundreds of people watching. The 41-year-old lawyer was in the middle of prosecuting a high-profile homicide trial, and the case was on the local news just about every night.
He was in court when he felt a pain in his abdomen so intense that he could barely stand up. His focus blurred as he tried to read his notes, and he had to sit down and catch his breath several times to make it through his closing argument. That night, Ahern’s father drove him to a nearby hospital, where surgeons removed his large intestine.
Well-wishes poured in from strangers, friends, and family in the weeks that followed — as well as a barrage of armchair medical advice: “You’ve been working way too hard!” “You are under too much stress.” Even, “I’ll bet you eat too late at night.”
Ahern knew that his condition, ulcerative colitis, was caused by a malfunctioning immune system, not by overwork or anxiety or his diet. His illness had flared up because his body had abruptly stopped responding to his medicine, as he’d always known it might. Far from neglecting his health, he had been in the best shape of his life just before his sudden decline…
