The statistics are telling.
The conditions and diseases Folk Evidence is aimed towards alleviating are widespread, and crippling to many of those who endure them.
Millions worldwide suffer from them, and yet the first I really learned about them was in researching this project. It struck me that for such a pervasive problem for the world of healthcare, there is almost no media coverage. A cursory look at recent health-related news stories garners no more coverage of these conditions than can be seen elsewhere online, and yet they can be more widespread, more debilitating, and more fatal than many of the health crises discussed online.
While these public health issues deserve no less attention than the multi-treatment conditions this project is conerned with, it is surprising how little people know about them. It is because of this absence of media coverage that any mention, no matter how controversial, of these conditions is noticeable. One recent and high-profile example would be an ad in the Wall Street Journal from Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West. In this ad, Ye writes “To Those I’ve Hurt”. While this message of apology has been criticised by some, it is not the sentiment or motives that are interesting here.
Instead, it is the condition mentioned.
Ye writes about the car accident which led to a frontal-lobe injury, and eventually a bipolar type-1 diagnosis. Ye writes a sensitive and informative first hand account of bipolar type-1, describing how the disease is “on par with severe heart disease, type 1 diabetes, HIV, and cancer” when it comes to fatality rates. This alone is significant, as it brings to the fore one of the most debilitating of the diseases and conditions Folk Evidence aims to help treat. However, it is even more interesting that Ye describe where his main source of information and solace came from.
“I have found comfort in Reddit forums”, writes Ye. This mention of the power of online information boards and forums is demonstrative of its effect on those diagnosed with bipolar disorder and similar conditions, and is the first major media mention I have noted on the impact of such technology on a figure as widely known as Ye.
While this is a particularly controversial example, it is tied fundamentally to the link between these multi-treatment conditions and communication. Without resources like Reddit, sufferers have little to no contact with others like them, and can go for years without fully understanding or being diagnosed with the conditions that plague them.
It is tragic that Ye, along with tens of thousands of others worldwide, is suffering from bipolar disorder, but this high-profile case is one step forward in the raising of public awareness of diseases and conditions like this, and my hope is that it will prompt more media coverage of these under researched and undervalued conditions.