I particularly like the final paragraph and the box in this
editorial. In my specialty we have already had first to discover then to
accept many of these points. Facing a constantly changing reality within
the system seems to be a necessary part of growing up – for doctors, for
nurses and our other professional colleagues, also for our patients, their
carers, the government and the media. I support Richard Smith’s view that
honesty is the key to making all this less uncomfortable.
Whatever the circumstances, anxiety, bewilderment, doubt and
especially anger characterize resistance to change; and they form the
emotional component of an immature response to the threat of some kind of
loss. No criticism is implied by the word ‘immature’ here. It is simply
that the natural process of psychological healing has not yet really begun
to ripen. When it does – with increasing acceptance of the new situation –
sorrow is more likely, and this is the more common prelude to renewed
happiness, calm and contentment than those other painful feelings.
This is the essence of grieving, the point of which is not to hold on
but to let go. The good news is that the process of emotional transition
is the route not only to a new equilibrium but also to a more durable
equanimity; that is to permanent personal growth.
Many doctors know all this, but may I here suggest that it is
something that bears almost endless repetition, until the penny drops for
everyone. In other words, it is a lesson not only for doctors to learn,
but to teach.
Rapid Response:
Healing and Happiness Go Together
I particularly like the final paragraph and the box in this
editorial. In my specialty we have already had first to discover then to
accept many of these points. Facing a constantly changing reality within
the system seems to be a necessary part of growing up – for doctors, for
nurses and our other professional colleagues, also for our patients, their
carers, the government and the media. I support Richard Smith’s view that
honesty is the key to making all this less uncomfortable.
Whatever the circumstances, anxiety, bewilderment, doubt and
especially anger characterize resistance to change; and they form the
emotional component of an immature response to the threat of some kind of
loss. No criticism is implied by the word ‘immature’ here. It is simply
that the natural process of psychological healing has not yet really begun
to ripen. When it does – with increasing acceptance of the new situation –
sorrow is more likely, and this is the more common prelude to renewed
happiness, calm and contentment than those other painful feelings.
This is the essence of grieving, the point of which is not to hold on
but to let go. The good news is that the process of emotional transition
is the route not only to a new equilibrium but also to a more durable
equanimity; that is to permanent personal growth.
Many doctors know all this, but may I here suggest that it is
something that bears almost endless repetition, until the penny drops for
everyone. In other words, it is a lesson not only for doctors to learn,
but to teach.
Larry Culliford
consultant psychiatrist
LDCULLY@mistral.co.uk
Brighton Community Mental Health Centre,
79, Buckingham Road, Brighton, BN1 3RJ.
Competing interests: No competing interests