Doctor's Corner

I recently spoke with a physician who reported that he had made numerous referrals to me and was surprised to learned that only one had actually followed through by contacting me. When I asked how he made a referral, he said that he tells patients that their problem is in their head and that I can help them.

So we need to consider the importance of language and how what we say is often not what is heard.

Physician says: "It's all in your head, pal, I can't help you but this gal can."

Patient hears: "Your problem is imaginary. You're a hopeless case, but the psychologist might help you feel better about it."

Now, it seems to me that this is not exactly what we want to be conveying.

A more useful approach might be to say something like the following:

Physician says: "Your problem is very real and I can certainly understand that it is very troublesome to you so I want to be very careful with what I say so you don't misunderstand. As you know, that the brain controls everything in the body, and I believe that your brain is getting in the way here. I think you could benefit from consulting with a health psychologist who knows a great deal about how the brain can affect medical conditions and physical functions."

The so called "placebo response" is an important part of the efficacy of any medical intervention. Culture and language combine in complex and interesting ways to form part of that placebo response.  To learn more about how culture and language shape the meanings that help people heal, please see this video.