storytelling is good for you

 

If you are reading this and you know me as a family physician, my interest in narrative medicine shouldn't surprise you. However, if you know me as a writer, but not as a doctor, you might wonder why I take such an interest in the field.

 

"Writing improves clinicians'

stores of empathy,

reflection, and courage."

~Rita Charon~



You might ask yourself what narrative medicine has to do with you. Why should you be interested in it?

 

This is the thing. Training in narrative medicine is important to health care providers because it makes us better practitioners. It's good medicine so, of course, I'm interested in it. But it's a hard sell. It takes time to explore the patient's full narrative, and in today's medical culture, time is money. It defeats the purpose of the EMR with its time-saving bullet points, and it doesn't conform to diagnostic and billing codes. It requires us to enter into a special connection with patients who would otherwise come and go as strangers. It tests our dedication.



"There isn't

a stronger connection between people

than storytelling."

~Jimmy Neil Smith~



On the positive side, it teaches us to elicit and interpret the patient's whole story...how he got sick, what it feels like for him, how it affects him and the people around him. What strengths he brings to the healing process, and what obstacles he encounters. All of which affect the course of his illness and the process of recovery.

 

Not to mention our own stories. I can tell you about the moment I first knew I wanted to become a doctor. I can tell you about the day I was convinced I'd made a mistake. My most challenging case. My greatest triumph...my most bitter defeat. The fatigue. The uncertainty. The fear. The first time I saved a life...or lost one. All this is fair game in the field of narrative medicine.

 

But narrative medicine isn't just for health care providers. It's meant for you, too. It might interest you if you have ever been a patient, especially if your experience was an unhappy one. If the doctor was rude or arrogant. If he never made eye contact with you, or explained your diagnosis, or discussed your treatment. Your story might describe the moment you first heard the word cancer, or heart attack, or stroke and everything in life changed for you. It might require you to put into words what you felt when your child got sick, or you lost the baby, or you had to depend on somebody else to feed and bathe you. These are the stories that chisel away at us inside, out of sight. Stories someone else needs to hear so that their healing can begin.

 

"Telling our story does not

merely document who we are.

It helps make us 

who we are."

~Rita Charon~

 

Maybe your story is a happy one. The day your cancer went into remission, or your child left the hospital, or you passed your stress test with flying colors. Tell us about the elation, or gratitude, or relief you felt.

 

We all have a story to tell. If your story quickens your pulse, or brings a tear to your eye, or makes your stomach turn, you should try to put it into words. Somebody needs to hear it.

 

If it opens your heart, or makes you smile, or lifts you up, someone definitely needs to hear it. Narrative is good medicine for all of us.

 

"For human beings,

life is meaningful because it is a story,

and in stories, endings matter."

~Atul Gawande~

 

jan