The cornerstone of treating the person not just the chronic condition.
To identify with another persons feelings is to show empathy. To emotionally be put
in the place of another person.
The ability to empathise is dependent on a persons ability to feel their own feelings
and identify them.
If a person has never felt a certain feeling, it would be difficult, if not impossible,
for them to understand how another person is feeling.
This is equally true for pleasure and pain. For example, If that person has never
experienced the passion of love, of rebellion and defiance, sorrow and shock they
will not understand its powerful effects.
A person reading or talking about a feeling and intellectually knowing about it is
very, very different than actually experiencing it for themselves.
Innate emotional intelligence within a person springs from their actual experience
of a wide ranging and variety of feelings. They will be the person who is most able
to empathise with the greatest number of people from all walks of life.
When a person cannot relate to other people, to reach out emotionally it is possibly
because they haven't experienced, or accepted many feelings of their own.
People who are not in touch with their own feelings are unlikely to have a sense
of conscience. They may feel no remorse, no guilt for causing harm to others.
They may not experience their own emotion, or indeed have no emotion so they have
no compassion another nor will they have any empathy.
Empathy begins with awareness of another person's feelings, their state of mind.
Showing sensitivity to a person is to not invalidate their feelings by diminishing,
rejecting or ignoring them.
Empathy and trust are a platform for effective understanding, communication and relationships.
Empathy and trust are essential to develop solutions.
Empathy and trust, understanding and sympathetic communications are far important
in achieving and sustaining a successful partnership when team effort is paramount.
It is inappropriate to not have some empathy for another person when they may be
struggling to come to terms terms with a diagnosis they may fear and not want to
hear.
It is better to work with people collaboratively, to enable them to see what problems
may be before them, and then help them to see ways to combat them. The act of doing
all this establishes trust.
There is more to people than pure science and it would be helpful if this was better
recognised by some of the health professionals who appear to have little or no empathy.
This not to suggest that there is no empathy or kindness amongst health professionals,
the vast majority do have great kindness, however there is also a quite large number
who do not.
