I heard a host on a talk show the other day describing the characteristics of the Millennial Generation (those born in the 1990s and early 2000s). They were described as taking much longer to make the transition from childhood to adulthood, as being more entrepreneurial and less rebellious. All of that is probably pretty much on the mark, but after years of working as a sonographer (ultrasound tech) in coordination with an emergency room I have to add that this generation is also seems more paranoid about their own health, more demanding and less capable of handling stress.
In the last thirteen years of working the midnight shift in the ultrasound department of a Midwestern hospital, I have seen the demographics of our patients change dramatically. When I began, I worked largely with an older population in critical condition and pregnant women in crisis. Occasionally, we saw a nervous mom or worried patient that came in for every ache or pain, but they were the exception. Now our emergency room is chronically filled with young people in their late teens and early twenties. Most of these patients have a family doctor and are generally healthy, but they arrive at all hours in the ER night after night with cold symptoms, period cramps and gas pain. Many charts note that the patient is anxious and tearful and state a list of fears regarding their condition.
I find all of this difficult to understand. I was raised by parents who saw the only reason to go to the emergency room was for major accidents and bleeding uncontrollably. They knew how to distract me when I was sick and whiny. I was allowed to run low grade fevers and given baby aspirin (considered safe in the 60s and 70s) when it began creeping up too high. A stomach ache was always met with the question, “When did you go to the bathroom last?” Regardless of the answer, that question was usually followed up with a couple of prunes and a glass of apple juice. Vomiting and diarrhea was just something that happened sometimes. If it lasted more than 48 hours, Mom called the doctor. They sat by my side and nursed me through flu bugs and colds with lukewarm baths,cold cloths for my face, ginger ale with twisty straws, singing and tummy rubs. I never remember worrying about my health. If I had any concern, I took it to my parents and they usually had a simple answer and they were usually right.
Today, teenagers flock into the emergency room with their friends, almost as a bonding experience. Crying, they tell you how frightened they are by their headaches and stomach aches and cold feet. They are certain something terrible is wrong. It never crosses their mind that the stomach pains they are having might have something to do with the junk food they’ve been eating for the last two days and that they haven’t had a bowel movement. Nor do the young women even question that their cramping could have anything to do with the fact that their last menstrual period was about four weeks ago. On a scale of 1-10, they almost always rank their pain as a 10. Not surprising, their symptoms become much worse when their friends (especially a boyfriend or girlfriend) enter the room. Tell them that what they are experiencing is normal and you are met with anger or sobbing. These kids often demand pain medicine and extensive testing, refusing to leave without tests the doctors feel are unnecessary and the parents, if present, offer no support. Worse are the parents that hover and fret over their anxious teen and actually interfere with the same testing they are demanding be done because it might make their child uncomfortable.
I’m sure some of this is due to pharmaceutical companies flooding the television with advertisements for drugs for virtually anything. The message seems to be that no discomfort should be tolerated and makes everything sound like a life-threatening problem. Some of it may be because parents often don’t have the time to do the things my parents did. My mom was a stay at home mom. My dad worked during the day but was all about our family the second he got out of work. We had their time and attention. Today’s families usually aren’t that fortunate. If there are two parents, both are usually working and many are working very long hours. It takes time to nurse a kid through an illness naturally and time is something most parents simply don’t have. Parents need to get their kids back to school as soon as possible because they need to be at work. No doubt, for a sick child, getting to stay home from school and having a parent stay home from work and devote their attention to them is a treat, of sorts, even if they have to be sick to get that attention. Add all of that together and you have an emergency room regularly filled with young people without any serious illness and very few coping skills to deal with the normal discomforts of life.
In today’s sue-happy world, doctors cannot simply use their clinical skills and tell someone to just go home and rest, drink plenty of fluid and it will pass. They have to order labs and imaging no matter how minor and prescriptions are expected. Even then they have to add the disclaimer that although nothing was found it could still be something serious and that if it doesn’t get better come back. Although older patients seem to be fine with fewer tests, younger patients expect them. I have seen a younger patient literally screaming in her room because a doctor didn’t think she needed a CT when she was having period cramps. Even though an ultrasound had already been done and clearly showed everything was normal. A CT was done to appease the patient which showed everything was normal and the patient was sent on her way with a prescription for Vicodin and the warning that it could still be something serious, even though it wasn’t serious and ibuprofen and a heating pad would probably have worked. The next month, about the same time, this patient showed up again baffled by this recurring symptom.
Times have changed. We live in an age where information is available to us on nearly every subject with just the click of a mouse. We are more aware of our bodies and more involved in our own health care. All of that is great. But sometimes I think we created a monster by not tempering that with common sense. Instead of using that information to empower, it seems to have fed into the anxieties of our youth. Anxieties that, for numerous reasons, seem to be another defining characteristic of this generation.