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I'm surprised by the negative reaction to this in some of the comment. I don't think this is an attack on modern medicine or drugs, but I think it resonates because it highlights the impersonal, 1 sized fits all approach we often encounter in modern medicine. I suffered a spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung) at the end of 2020, and it was a difficult case that ended up with me spending 5 weeks in the hospital, a major thoracic surgery and home with a chest tube for 3 more weeks. I'm extremely grateful to modern medicine. 100 years ago I would have just lost function of the lung and probably eventually died. 30 years ago I probably would have lived, but the surgery would have involved spreading open my ribcage and my recovery would have been much longer and harder. All the pain medications are way more effective than willow bark. So yes, profoundly grateful and happy we have modern medicine. My doctors and nurses were all generally compassionate and professional, and overall I can say my care was good. However; The experience really highlighted to me how mental health or consideration of the whole person is not considered in today's medical environments. Most people intuitively knows that it's harder to recover, or even avoid falling ill when your environment is oppressive, never mind recover from major trauma. The lack of plants, fresh air, art or any other kind of environmental beauty, 24/7 artificial light, never getting more than 4 hours of sleep in a stretch etc. I don't blame the hospitals given the current environment they operate in, but it's clear we focus only on the person's issues in isolation, and try to forget they are a person, and the disposition of a persons spirit and mental state can either aid or hinder healing. This is true in an outpatient sense too, and even in family medicine (at least in Canada) where quality of life issues are rarely considered important. Anyway, this is a long winding way of saying I think we can both appreciate the advantages of modern medicine while appreciating and desiring a move towards a more wholistic view of a person's quality of life and subjective experience while dealing with health issues. |