Baggage Check: Emotional Healing

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Dr. Andrea Bonior dives into the world of psychology.

Dealing with invasive medical interventions, especially when one is diagnosed with a serious illness, can be an extremely stressful experience. Disturbingly, there is new evidence that suggests that many health care professionals are doing very little to make this process any easier.

In a study recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, physicians were woefully deficient in showing empathy. Empathy -- the building block of a caring and civil society and sometimes the difference between a sociopath and a good Samaritan -- is perhaps never more in need than when someone is fearful for their life, as the lung cancer patients in this study were.

Certainly, no one's accusing these doctors of lacking compassion. But various factors, like having too large a caseload, feeling overburdened, or wanting to avoid thoughts of their own mortality might make them forget the importance of showing it. Perhaps at the forefront is the understandable need to keep some emotional distance, especially for doctors with specialties that deal with death quite frequently.

But a little empathy can go a long way, and it can actually be an important part of the treatment itself. Patients who are shown more empathy are more satisfied with their medical encounters, which in turn can lead to lower anxiety and perhaps a better prognosis -- I can't think of a better argument for doctors to remind themselves to show their human side.

Talk back to Dr. Andrea by leaving a comment below. To ask a question for Baggage Check in the Express print edition, e-mail baggage@readexpress.com or submit an anonymous question here.