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Comment by encryptluks2 | Hacker News Reader

And if doctors are worried, the first step should be doing actual tests to see if people are experiencing pain. Not making some judgement based on their cynical bias whether someone is lying or being truthful.

It is amazing how much of the medical community states they believe in science, yet they seem entirely disconnected from it at times.

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Sure, just like instead of prescribing anti-depressants, we should first do a depression test.

Unfortunately, neuroscience is not at a level where we can actually perform these tests. There is no objective measure to see if someone is in pain, or depressed, or suffering many other psychological symptoms.

Actually, there are tests now for depression. And yes, you can do objective tests like brain imaging to see people's responses to stimuli among other things. What should not happen is for doctors to meet someone for 20 minutes, do nothing but talk to the person and say.. oh, I don't trust them they must be lying. Except, that is what doctors do all the time and there is no scientific basis for their decisions.

Sounds expensive, wouldn't it just be easier to trust them? I think the bigger problem is if a doctor doesn't know what's wrong or how to fix it, then they disengage.

Yes it is easier to trust the patient, but unfortunately many medical professionals have implicit bias and don't.

Can you point to some tests for depression? A quick Google only turned out some studies, nothing approved and usable in clinical settings (and one of the studies had a test that couldnt differentiate between depression and bipolar disorder).

Similarly, brain imaging for pain is at the research level, and may come with several other risks. I doubt there are such tests that could be used to conclusively prove that someone is or is not in pain.

One that I can think of, but I think it may be more "early access":

https://mindxsciences.com/

There are blood and urine tests for seratonin, but studies are mixed on how reliable they are. Since depression can also be accompanied by other factors though, there is a wide range of tests that can help provide objective evidence.

So, just as the person you replied to said, nothing approved and usable in clinical settings.

Do you mean like as common as a rapid test, cause they are approved and usable but more specialized medicine.

How can you, with an objective test, determine whether or not I am experiencing chronic pain, or if I'm just pretending to be experiencing chronic pain?

Brain imaging would be a good example, but there is cortisol screenings among several other tests that can help determine that someone is actually in pain.

I could be wrong, but don't people with long-term chronic pain have normal cortisol levels?

I'm sure they can, but it can be a very indicator as well:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4263906/ https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/pain/cortisol-screen...

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