There used to be a time when people didn't discuss their health problems so openly

[RB TexLa]

I'm not judging people with a public profile for either publicly discussing an illness or keeping it to themselves. Do you think we are better off as a society with people both famous and not discussing their illnesses more openly?

[MissB]

1. Yes.

There is no shame in having a certain disease or health problem. Having people discuss their health publicly may help others who have the same problems - if nothing else, to know that they aren't alone.

Look at Lance Armstrong. He is a great role model for those diagnosed with testicular cancer (and cancer in general).

[mrreowwr_kittty]

2. I agree. n/t

[Horse with no Name]

3. This was never questioned when Betty Ford had breast cancer

or when she had her bout with alcoholism, or when Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimers, or Montel with his MS.
The list goes on and on.
It opens up a necessary national discussion if not a debate when someone lends their celebrity to a cause such as this.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. But it is a recent phenomenon. Before Betty Ford, NOBODY

in the public eye talked about alcoholism. Even those who everybody knew to be alcoholics who had battled and won did not talk about it.

As recently as the 60s nobody talked about cancer. Since the causes of cancer were still generally unknown, there was the fear that the cancer was your fault, and to have cancer was shameful.

We were, and still remain, very much a shame-based culture.

And conservatives miss that.

[gravity]

4. If we ignore it, the problems will just go away

:sarcasm:

I think it's good that we're more open discussng health problems, since it will bring attention to problems, we are more likely to support efforts for researching new treatments, and make us aware of the disease so that we can help prevent ourselves and others from getting it in the future.

[Buzz Clik]

5. We aren't talking about a skin rash or athlete's foot.

We're talking about a very serious condition that will likely become distracting to someone aspiring to the most powerful position in the world.

It's relevant.

[bryant69]

6. I think it's a sympton of a larger condition rather than a conscious decision

We all live in glass fishbowls these days; Roosevelt could hide his polio, no modern politician or celebrity has that option. So the question becomes is it better to get the information out there yourself and control the story, or wait for the press to pick it up.

If they wanted to, how long could Elizabeth and John Edwards have hidden her cancer?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[leftofthedial]

7. I have a boil on my ass

[bdamomma]

8. they weren't so public with illnesses or religion at one time.

those subjects were viewed as private, wish they were again.

[philosophie_en_rose]

9. People should be able to choose to discuss their health problems.

There shouldn't be any shame in having a medical condition, especially one like cancer, but I also think it's a private issue.

People should feel free to discuss it, but don't have any obligation to do so and should control how much information is shared.

[bdamomma]

10. that's how I feel too. It is really up to the person to disclose

such personal information to another person just depends who that person is.

[no_hypocrisy]

11. Tough call.

Would FDR have been elected if the electorate knew that he was virtually confined to a wheelchair with heavy braces on his legs from the ravages of polio?

Would Woodrow Wilson have been impeached for disability had the public known that he was bedridden and an invalid from a series of strokes and that his wife with advice of counselors ran the country in his stead, even signing bills in his place, outside the Constitution?

[samq79]

12. Hell, one of our greatest presidents was in a wheelchair, and was still elected

n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. The "new" thing that bothers me is how often people admit to

not understanding things.

"Oh, I don't get that. It's over my head."
"Oh, that reading was too hard."

If this was done as a rhetorical gambit, like, say, Columbo, that would be one thing. But people now really say it, not being sly, but because they truly mean it. There used to be a time, I think, when someone would be ashamed to be the dumbest person in the room. now it's a fucking virtue.

[The2ndWheel]

18. That's why we have specialized experts

It's their job to know, not ours. Our job is whatever specialized career we chose. A politicians job is to yip yap all day long, and also to take large sums of money from whoever happens to offer it. It's not our job to know, or even to care. That's why all those democratic institutions were built. They take care of the problems with the best and the brightest. We pay the taxes, that's it.

[blondeatlast]

14. As one with a chronic illness, I'm amazed at the ignorance people have about

my condition.

I don't shout about it to the world, but it's important to discuss it with those that know me--and if someone makes an ignorant comment, regardless of whether I know them well or not, you can damn well bet I'll politlely straighten them out.

Are there excesses? Sure. But it's overwhelmingly a good thing.

[blondeatlast]

15. In the case of celebrity, we can't ignore the "pre-emptive" nature

of such disclosure.

The press was bound to find out in the latest cases (Edwards and Snow) and proactive management allows them some degree of control over the information--utterly necessary when dealing with such a trauma.

[Rosemary2205]

17. Some celebs have gone public to benefit our society.

Betty Ford, The Reagans, Scott Hamilton, Yul Brenner, Micheal J Fox, now Elizabeth Edwards. They do so to encourage people to make a change or to get preventative screenings, or to pull in support to find better treatments and cures. I admire this and appreciate it. IMHO it is a special service to humankind.

Of course some celebs go public just to head off the "bathroom rags" - and I find it tragic we've allowed our so called "media" to get so out of hand.

As for the rest of us. Most everyone I know discusses their illnesses with only thier closest family and friends, unless there is some sort of special need, such as a child needing a transplant and the family needs more community support.