Things you're amazed aren't more widely known/ common misconceptions perpetuated by popular culture etc

[wangernum]

This isn't about how the young people at work don't know what the capital of Spain is, or that the petrol indicator on the car dashboard tells you what side your petrol cap is on, etc. More things that you didn't know at one point, but having learned about it (or more likely - experienced it yourself) can't see why it isn't more widely known.

My examples:
Diagnosing of gallstones. My GP failed to diagnose my dreadful gallstone pain, in the end (after suffering for years) I asked a forum like this about my symptoms and loads of people said it's probably gallstones. I went to a different GP and said 'I think it could be gallstones' and it was - got the gallbladder removed and not had a problem since.
Anyway, since then I realise the symptoms are fairly obvious (I know it's hard to describe pain but from my own experience I know what sort of questions to ask) yet there are always threads on here about how gallstones didn't get suggested by a doctor/got missed, a friend of mine also had similar experience just not knowing what this indescribable pain was. How on earth do doctors not know to suggest/check for gallstones? It seems really common?

Other misconceptions:
Waters going just before you're about to give birth (most people who've had children probably know this isn't accurate! My waters had to be broken when I was in labour!) This still happens on TV all the time!

Schizophrenia = multiple personality disorder. It's not.

Breastfeeding - so much I had no idea about! How painful it can be to start with. That babies need feeding all the time! I did an NCT breastfeeding class and I still felt that it was based on a lot of assumed knowledge (that I didn't have!). Even calling formula feeding 'bottle-feeding' but it not actually being about feeding from a bottle but the fact it's formula not breastmilk.

Colic - that it's a medical problem or indigestion, reflux etc. It's hard to tell from a lot of the stuff that's written about it but it just means lots of unexplained crying (usually at certain times etc, well it was in my experience). I actually found that 'purple crying' was a better explanation: purplecrying.info/what-is-the-period-of-purple-crying.php

Bit more obscure but d-mer.org/ - D-MER - very specific feeling of sadness when breastfeeding. I wish I'd known about this with my first baby!

Another example might be anyone that still thinks 'common-law wife' is a thing. Although I don't see many people using that phrase apart from to point out it's not a thing (legally etc)!

SarahandQuack ditto “full fat milk” it’s 3% fat, if it was full fat it won’t pour!

I have changed my name by deed poll, it cost £36 to get the official certificate, which has absolutely been needed for new bank accounts, my mortgage, etc.

You were had, technically.

I changed my name by deed poll, and I got the 'official' certificate too. Ie., the free one.

What you got was someone taking your money.

I will admit, I suspect the stress of it was worth paying £36, because I was in a hurry and it took ages.

However, my deed poll was free. Two mates witnessed it for me. The passport office accepted it along with proof it was the name I was known by; the bank accepted my passport and deed poll, and so did the DVLA.

It is legally possible and fine. The issue is whether you'd rather spend some money on making it easier.

You didn't need to pay, PP. You were misled. I'm sorry you were misled but I think a lot of evidence has been provided now. A deed poll is simply a piece of paper with straight edges. You did not need to pay anyone £36 - though it may well have been convenient to do so.

That people ‘tell the truth when they’re drunk’.

(They don’t. They talk bollocks, usually).

After my second child I had the most horrendous after pains. The nurse said I was exaggerating I WAS NOT.

I found those pains worse than labour. I've no idea why it only happens with the second (and presumably subsequent) babies but can still remember writhing around on the bed in complete agony.

Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant. They would rather have cat food or dog food put out for them in your garden.

Curly hair shouldn't be brushed when dry else it goes frizz or difficult to manage.

That if you cut hair it grows back faster/ shave it grows back thicker. Total rubbish, the hair is dead after the roof and has no idea it's been cut. I think the thickness after shaving comes about due to the hair growing back with a blunt, instead of a tapered end.

That buses are ALWAYS automatically better for the environment than cars. If they're replacing a number of cars, then they often are; but if a bus travels a long way with only four people on it (discounting the driver, who wouldn't otherwise be wanting/needing to make the journey), who would otherwise have travelled in a single standard family car, then the environmental footprint is much worse than if they'd taken the car and the bus had stayed in the depot.

Yes, the bus will be going on its normal route anyway, but people use the same argument when flying - "But the plane would have been flying whether or not I was on it." Not if there's no demand for it, it won't.

Not that I'm suggesting we do away with buses at all, just that people often blindly follow and proclaim sweeping assumptions without actually thinking.

That if you have a guide dog it decides when it’s safe to cross the road. No it can’t, because it’s a dog.

That all blind people can read braille. This isn’t true, in fact it’s not even close to being true. I think only something like 5% of people who are registered blind, or severely visually impaired as it’s called now can read braille. This is not surprising considering many people lose their sight when they get older, and as already said by PPs, not all people who are registered have no vision whatsoever. I know people who are registered visually impaired who can read normal print. It’s not because they’re not severely visually impaired, it might just be that their sight is concentrated in a small area for example.

That if your eyesight deteriorates so much that you are unable to drive you will automatically lose your license. This is absolutely not the case. I used to volunteer for a local charity for people with sight loss and the amount of people who would turn up with severe sight loss in their cars was frightening. I used to show people what equipment was available to help them read etc. I’d get them in front of a CCTV, which in this case is a camera that you put a document under and the print comes up on the screen. Some people would come in who could only see literally one letter at a time, enlarged to the size of a computer monitor, then they’d get into their car and drive home. You most certainly can have your driving license revoked if your eyesight deteriorates, but it is by no means a given that all the people who lose a lot of sight will.

Finally, that common sense is common. Unfortunately I have found this not to be the case, in fact I think it’s a complete misnomer, as it’s not actually very common at all.

Oo speaking of "registered blind" - the fact that "registered disabled" isn't actually a thing.

That rape victims will not be cross examined in court on their previous sexual behaviour except in very limited circumstances. You see defence barristers conduct this kind of intrusive questioning all the time on tv dramas, but the fact is that Section 41 YJCEA 1999 prevents such questions being asked. This kind of irresponsible script writing, for dramatic effect only, must put people off reporting to police or following through with a prosecution to trial.

That "safety socket covers" actually make sockets more dangerous.

There’s a particular one that really bothers me. In my line of work people misuse the term ‘mental health’. So you will frequently hear.... “this lady has mental health and had to be hospitalised”....”This child IS mental health. They are under CAMHS”.
So mental health seems to be used as a negative condition. And a person can BE mental health.

It irritates me so much. And also the term schizophrenia being used to describe someone with a ‘split personality’.

It’s interesting about the change of name thing.

I got married outside the U.K. My marriage certificate is in another language. My married name on that certificate is different to the one I use and all official documentation because the tradition of the country I married in is that a woman takes the feminised version of her husbands name.
I changed my driving licence first, which was more lenient and didn’t require a translation. I then used my driving licence to change my passport.

I have no idea what my ‘legal’ name is.

@BeyondFlubeInclusionaryRF yes! It’s completely true but so hard to get people to believe and understand this fact.

That you can identify as disabled if you have a disability that impacts your daily life even if you do not claim disability benefits.

That you can have ME/CFS and not neccessarily be bedbound 24/7. Only 25% of ME sufferers actually have that extreme type. Of course it is always debilitating but working or not using a wheelchair does not mean they can't have ME.

Finally, that common sense is common. Unfortunately I have found this not to be the case, in fact I think it’s a complete misnomer, as it’s not actually very common at all.

'Common sense' comes from the Latin that means, roughly, the things established by all the senses working together. That is, 'common sense' means what you can recognise to be true by using your senses, as opposed to the things you might not be able to verify by real-world observation, or the impressions you get from just once sense (eg., thinking you've heard someone knock on the door but realising, when you look, there's no one there).

This is a silly one but..."the immaculate conception" does NOT refer to Jesus' conception where the Virgin Mary got pregnant through the voice of the Holy Spirit. It refers to Mary's own conception, where she was "conceived without sin" and perfect in every way unlike mere mortals. I hear people joking about "immaculate conceptions" when someone gets pregnant without having much of a sex life and it's wrong usage.

Obviously it's all a load of nonsense but get it right!

It was a chaste kiss, though, right? Not the naughty. Though I assume Joachim and Anna had been at the naughty on a regular basis prior to said kiss.

Sockets or disability, hadto?

Had a long disagreement with DP the other day when I tried to explain the socket cover thing. People just don't get it.

That verbal and emotional or mental abuse whether to a child or in a marriage is just as damaging as sexual or physical abuse and yes it can and does cause complex ptsd.

That people rarely self-diagnose autism or mental health conditions just for attention or to be different. Including teenagers. Yes, they may flippantly claim to be OCD or depressed or whatever, because they don't really know the real meaning of it, but those who are realy believing they have a problem or are seeking help for it are not doing it for lols. if people wanted attention there are easier ways to go about it! no one would go for years seeing therapists and doctors just to "fake" it with no real gain.

People with epilepsy don’t all react to flashing lights, only those with light sensitive epilepsy do.

Additionally even if you do not lose consciousness you can still be having a seizure, and even if you recognise it as a seizure it is not always an absence seizure. I have psychic seizures which are more like panic attacks, I still know what it going on, I just don’t give two shits

You can have a migraine with no pain.

The fever at the onset of flu is the difference between flu and a cold. No fever, probably a cold.

That pet rats can be very intelligent and affectionate. Ditto guinea pigs

We had one which would move a toy to stop another coming up the ramp and move it again when they had gone. One was intelligent and the other was completely loopy

That you can have had a mental breakdown without being sectioned or even voluntarily hospitalised. Also the term "mental breakdown" or "nervous breakdown" is a layman's term not a medical term. It simply means any kind of mental health crisis which has disrupted your life and can cover anything from severe stress or burnout to neurosis or psychotic episode. Mental health issues can be mild or severe.

This one might save lives: it is possible to have had a heart attack without classic heart symptoms like angina. I knew someone personally who felt very sleepy and had severe weaknes who was later diagnosed as having had a heart attack.

ioioitsoff That sounds adorable!