TASK 2 (Positive or Negative): HOME TREATMENT

These days, if people have health problems, many do not visit doctors. They try to get better at home by themselves. Is this a positive or negative development?

Sample Answer

In today’s contemporary society, many illness-stricken individuals tend to avoid doctor visits, and their avoidance is usually rooted in a strong belief in self-recuperation. In my view, deciding whether this healing practice is constructive or self-inflicting is largely circumstantial. Regardless of such nuances, I firmly believe that the drawbacks of this phenomenon vastly eclipse any tangible benefits.

Proponents of self-recovery point to numerous cases of small ailments as a concrete justification for avoiding formal check-ups. Appointments with health-care practitioners, they argue, are of profound redundance since the human immune system is scientifically proven to mobilise a defence mechanism against common viruses, bacteria, and physical fatigue. By this logic, light illnesses such as the common flu, seasonal cold, and occasional exhaustion can be better treated at home, thereby avoiding the unnecessary complication of healthcare institutions. A similar home treatment strategy can be applied to minor injuries such as non-serious bone fractures, climate-induced rashes, and sprained muscles. The majority of these ailments and injuries can almost always be self-cured without formal physical treatment.

Nonetheless, these aforementioned ailments and injuries are comparatively insignificant, only representing a minor proportion of all illnesses, diseases, and injuries. Much as home treatment can be the first resort in early stages, hospital admittance is almost always recommended if the situation escalates and the condition aggravates.

The argument in favour of seeking medical support cites more critical situations, whereby the stakes are high and even with irreversible consequences. Chief among those is cancer – a life-threatening condition that hardly anyone can commit solely to self-healing and home remedies for a comprehensive treatment. This is because almost all cancer types require sophisticated treatments and meticulously sourced pharmaceuticals, such as chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted medications prescribed by accredited doctors. In these cases, home treatments – though effective to a certain degree – may not yield tangible results and can even be counterproductive.

In tandem with this, infectious diseases such as the 2019-Coronavirus remain a poignant example of the paramount importance of vaccines and novel treatments, without which contagion and fatality rates would not have been contained.

In conclusion, while I acknowledge the efficacy of home-healing in select cases of simple ailments and minor injuries, I remain a fervent supporter of standardised treatment practices in the majority of health-related scenarios, especially concerning chronic, contagious, and life-threatening diseases. Ultimately, individuals should be the arbiters in choosing their own treatment methods, taking into consideration the extent to which they are affected by health-related issues.

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