Online mockery, preconceived ideas and taboos at work: this is what emerges from a TNS Sofres survey carried out on Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease: both known and obscure. According to a TNS Sofres study for the Ethical Space of Public Assistance of Paris Hospitals (AP-HP), the French think they know about these neurodegenerative diseases… but they are not well informed. This is what reveals the survey carried out among 1000 French people aged 15 and over, accompanied by an analysis of the web.
Diseases to hide
Spontaneously, respondents say they are fairly well informed about neurodegenerative diseases and do not seem to consider them taboo. In fact, 70% of French people say they are familiar with Parkinson’s disease, 50% with multiple sclerosis. They are also 7 in 10 to judge that there is no point in hiding his illness.
However, when going into the details, inconsistencies appear. Asked about the reasons that could push to hide his disease, 90% of respondents cited at least one reason. The desire to preserve one’s professional life comes at the top of the suggestions, followed closely by the fear of being registered as sick with banks and insurance companies.
“Bubble logic”
Despite their claims, the French seem rather uninvited about Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. The requests formulated on the search engines are in free fall since 2007 for the second. As for the conversations on the forums, it emerges from it “a logic of” bubble “where the disease is experienced and understood in a vacuum”, according to the analysis of TNS Sofres.
For the general population, this lack of curiosity can be seen directly on social networks. Twitter users, for example, tend to consistently associate Parkinson’s disease with older people.
The weird old couples on the train who don’t pay for their ticket. #parkinson #refusd‘comply #realities
– Maxime Thierry (@MaximeT_Art) February 16, 2013
If you too your grandmother does a better shaking hand than Marion Cotillard. #Parkinson
– EmlynC (@Emlyn_C) July 27, 2012
Parkinson’s: the “chestnut tree of little phrases”
If they were suffering from Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis, 35 and 37% of French people would be ready to hide their disease to continue living “as before” as long as possible. The same proportion of respondents also affirms that they are ready to hide their illness from their loved ones, in order to protect them.
But 27% of those questioned also fear mockery, an argument moreover more present among young people. TNS Sofres confirms these fears and denounces the growing “LOL attitude” around Parkinson’s disease which “is becoming a sort of horse chestnut of little phrases on Twitter. »An estimate unfortunately confirmed by thematic research.
There are hairdressers who do not respect their customers. Looks like they have Parkinson’s disease qd they outline people: ‘|
– Scam. (@_WaitAndSee) October 3, 2014
In fact, if a person uses sign language and has Parkinson’s disease, they can be said to be stuttering.
– Best Tweets (@meilleurtwits) October 2, 2014
I would end up in Madison without trembling like Cassius Clay, I need nobody in Harley Parkinson
– 13or-du-hiphop (@ 13or_du_hiphop) September 29, 2014
“This trivialization of mockery certainly reinforces (wrongly) the feeling of knowledge of Parkinson’s disease in the population, while excluding patients”, deplores TNS Sofres.
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