Physician Normalization of Symptoms May Lead Patients to Not Seek Treatment

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 12, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Reassurance of patients that their symptoms are “normal” may lead patients to infer that treatment is not necessary, according to a study published online Aug. 10 in Nature Human Behaviour.

Seyi Lawal, from the University of California in San Diego in La Jolla, and colleagues address the phenomenon of reassurance that symptoms are normal reducing people”s inclination to pursue treatment. Reassurance through normalization was documented in 14 studies involving 9,371 participants.

The authors note that normalization triggers a reappraisal of treatment norms, with patients inferring that symptom normalization by health care providers is intended to communicate that treatment is not warranted. Communication strategies to overcome this incorrect inference were explored, including pairing normalizing language with a specific recommendation for treatment, and explaining that “normal” was meant in a statistical sense, rather than normative.

“Doctors usually have a noble goal. They mean to ease anxiety, but somehow it backfires,” senior author On Amir, Ph.D., also from the University of California San Diego, said in statement. “Doctors shouldn”t stop reassuring patients. But they should make their meaning unmistakable.”

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