Your Medical Mind

Cutting through the confusion caused by the healthcare system, the media, and gaps in our reasoning, the bestselling author of How Doctors Think gives listeners essential tools for making the medical decisions that best suit their own needs.This important and riveting book could changeand perhaps even saveyour life.Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on HappinessMaking the right medical choices is harder than ever. Whether were deciding to take a cholesterol drug or choosing a cancer treatment, we are overwhelmed by information from all sides: our doctors recommendations, dissenting expert opinions, confusing statistics, conflicting media reports, the advice of friends, claims on the Internet, and a never-ending stream of drug company ads. Your Medical Mind shows us how to chart a clear path through this sea of confusion.Drs. Groopman and Hartzband reveal that each of us has a set of deeply rooted beliefs whose profound influence we may not realize when we make medical decisions. How much trust we place in authority figures, instatistics or in other patients stories, in technology or in natural healing, and whether we seek the most or theleast treatmentall are key factors that shape our choices. Recognizing our preferences and the external factors that might lead our thinking astray can make a dramatic, even lifesaving, difference in our medical decision making. When conflicting information pulls us back and forth between options, when we feel pressured by doctors or loved ones to make a particular choice, or when we have no previous experience to guide us through a crisis, Your Medical Mind will prove to be an essential companion.The authors interviewed scores of patients and draw on research and insights from doctors, psychologists, economists, and other experts to help explain the array of forces that can aid or impede our thinking. They show us the subtle strategies drug advertisers use to influence our choices. They unveilthe extremesometimes dangerously misleadingpower of both narratives and statistics. And theyhelp us understand how to improve upon a universal human shortcomingassessing the future impactof the decisions we make now.