Iconic singer Joni Mitchell was diagnosed with Morgellons. ... she's awake and in good spirts

[Orrex]

35. Several things going on here

1. The fact that the medical establishment has fucked women over for centuries does not mean that every unsubstantiated claim must be treated as proven fact. Men have also self-diagnosed with Morgellons, but it's no more real an infection for them than it is for Ms. Mitchell.

2. The fact that a disease (or its cause) is not immediately recognized does not mean that every self-diagnosis must be treated as proven fact. If, for a given reported malady, the cause overwhelmingly appears to be psychological, then that's how it goes. It doesn't mean that the malady is imaginary or false; it means that it's a psychological disorder and should be treated differently from a parasitic investation. This is true whether the patient is female or male.

3. Self-diagnosis of chronic, subjective conditions with nebulous epidemiology is notoriously problematic, and this is true whether the sufferer is male or female. If a cause can't be readily identified, then it's risky to pursue a course of treatment based solely on the symptoms. That's not to say that the condition isn't real, only that treating the symptoms may or may not address the underlying condition. Further, most chronic conditions rise and fall in intensity over time anyway. The "alternative" "medicine" industry preys upon this fact, claiming success for worthless treatments when the condition is simply abating as part of the normal up-and-down cycle.

4. Many claims made by Dr. Weil and Dr. Oz about Epstein–Barr, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue (etc.) must be treated with caution. Weil and Oz are well known to be handsomely subsizided by the "alternative" "medicine" industry, so their endorsements are suspect in the absence of independent corroborating evidence. If you're getting info from their shows, books or tv appearances, then you should probably seek another source.

In short, I haven't seen anyone here claim that Ms. Mitchell is not suffering from a disorder. Rather, most are reluctant to conclude that her assessment is correct when it contradicts medical evidence. You do her no favors by advocating for her mistaken self-diagnosis.