Dr Phil Kieran: Sometimes what the doctor orders is not visiting the GP

Going to the doctor to get medication or to make sure medication isn’t needed can seem like the conscientious thing to do. But harm can arise from unintentionally teaching children that all health issues are scary or complicated and need to be seen by a doctor. Picture: iStock

Dr Phil Kieran is a full-time GP practising in Cork. He previously presented RTE's 'You Should Really See a Doctor' and 'How Long Will You Live?'.

    “10 shocking medical symptoms parents always overlook”, and “We all need to tell our doctor to test our children for…” These are two types of headlines I find unhelpful because they prey on people’s fear of missing something serious, and they ignore the damage done by over-medicalising normal experiences.