Words have extraordinary power - they can heal or hurt the mind and the body.....

A Doctor's Duty

Dealing with the physical symptoms of a neurological/central nervous system disease will always be an uphill battle. We all know that there are no cures for diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson's Disease, to name a few, and to be told that one has one of these incurable diseases is devastating.  To learn with absolute certainty that you will spend the remainder of your life suffering a variety of strange, painful and  unpredictable symptoms that could possibly lead to some permanent disability or even shorten your life, can only be met with a huge degree of fear. 

There are bound to be dozens of unanswered questions, nowhere to turn and no hope for the future, particularly if you have experienced a doctor-patient relationship that did not offer any caring or compassion - where, instead of the relationship being the first step in healing it became the first step in suffering.  For good or bad, right or wrong, the doctor-patient relationship is bound, by the very nature of the relationship, to be an emotional one and it should, in its context, offer a soft place to fall, but becomes anything but that when a diagnosis has been given in a brusque and impersonal manner. A few words of hope, compassion, guidance and support can prevent the negative feelings that will naturally arise and last for many months and/or years afterwards as consequences of a doctor's cold and clinical approach.

Words have extraordinary power - they can heal or hurt the mind and the body. They affect spirit, motivation and attitude, and given the right words, with hope and acceptance people can do incredible things with their lives, in spite of the physical handicaps their disease might manifest. With compassion, understanding, and a positive approach a person can be guided toward a path of empowerment. Hope, optimism, and pertinent conversation will help heal faster and enable a person to face their disease and not surrender to it through fear and lack of knowledge.

Is it not a doctor's duty to deal gently with the sick? Is it not a doctor's duty to tell their patient that the future holds hope, and that others in similar predicaments have been able to turn fear and uncertainty into an opportunity for personal growth? Is it not a doctor's duty to deal with compassion - handle with care - as the mind, heart and body are interconnected?