the need to know for sure, and the more when it is sure it's not possible --- and the more insecure one is, the more it seems important. This can also be observed at an individual level. An anxious patient sometimes prefer to hear bad news than "we don't know, and a CT won't give us more information now". If one week later (so the situation can have changed significantly) the CT is prescribed (by someone else/ a specialist,...) and shows something, even if it has no consequence, the professional who first saw the patient will become discredited. This leads to contra productive practices (more unnecessary exams, but also potentially harmful interventions). I'm not a psychologist, but there seems to be something inherent to human fear.

Source author: Katharina Beyer katharina.beyer@etu.unige.ch