Does anyone else's family do this? My mum's always been pretty bad but in the last few years it's incessant. Not just her own ailments but neighbours, friends, people I used to go to school with whose parents she's bumped into on the street ... it's endless. My dad doesn't talk about his own health but again will tell me all about the neighbours. I have said to my mum that I don't really like hearing about all this but she says at her age she doesn't have much else to talk about (!) But my sister does it too! Granted she has a mild but long standing condition, but she just talks about it all the time. What the doctor said, what pills she is on and what dose etc. It honestly does my nut in. I try to talk to them about other things but we always end up talking about illness and medicine. This isn't normal is it? I mean, it's not small talk or enjoyable or edifying. It's just grim. How can I get them to stop?