Can Media Coverage Help To Raise Public Awareness of Morgellons Disease?

Morgellons is not in the news everyday, but it has been featured in local news stories as well as national television programs. Even though it is important for raising public awareness, it is even more vital in informing Morgellons suffers that they are not alone. In August of 2006, the ABC show Medical Mysteries gave Morgellons national exposure. It was broadcast after the CDC announced that a task force had been formed to look into the claims of Morgellons patients.
The announcement made by the CDC seemed to coincide with a lot of newspaper and television coverage on the Morgellons. Although is it unclear whether the additional coverage was because of the CDC’s announcement or if the CDC felt the pressure of dozens of journalists calling for a comment, the results are the same. There is progress for those fighting for recognition of Morgellons as a real disease.
In order to be fair, most journalists will present both sides of the story. Morgellons patients across the country were interviewed. They showed their lesions. They shed tears. They made anyone reading the articles and watching the television feel their angst. They made America care. Then a doctor would be interviewed and explain that we were all being sucked into the delusion. They would tell us that the only disease these people were suffering from was a psychological disease. These doctors would even explain how a psychological disease could be contagious. So how much has media coverage really helped in the Morgellons cause?

Even if people do believe that all who claim to suffer from Morgellons are crazy, they are still thinking about it. They are still talking about it. This is even doubly true for those who believe that Morgellons is a real disease. When they believe, they want to know more about. They want to read more about it. They want to look at the pictures of the lesions and the fibers to understand just what Morgellons patients are going through. It is then that they become outraged that no one is helping these people who are so desperate for someone to listen. These people whose only connection to those suffering from Morgellons disease is a television show or a newspaper suddenly begin writing their congressmen and senators. Are they now a part of the delusion? Or are they just tired of a government that ignores the needs of its citizens?
What about those who are suffering from Morgellons who haven’t tapped into the resources available on the Internet? Until they see that newspaper article or that news show, they think that they are alone in their suffering. After all, odds are that they have been told they are crazy. After dealing with anger and frustration and self-doubt, a news piece on Morgellons disease can be the lifeline they have been searching for.
Media coverage is likely to increase public awareness of Morgellons. People may be skeptical of the claims of patients or they may be skeptical of the diagnosis of delusional parasitosis made by doctors, but they will be made of aware of the existence of Morgellons.