Over the past 26 years that I have been in contact with the art and science of medicine, I have observed many complicated struggles. I found that the more complicated the struggles are, the more complicated would be the needed solutions.
At times there are no solutions to be found and the arts of coping skills and management strategies become important.
But I have seen a very powerful force of healing in my time that no other therapies come close to the strong effects of it. I have noticed that when a group of patients get together, they start helping each other by sharing their stories, guiding each other through the path they share and suggesting solution they think might help others. It is ironic to see how powerful the effect of this group effort is.
Many times in the waiting rooms our patients start discussions about their conditions, new treatments or the old remedies they have tried. Especially for the regular patients, it becomes the most enjoyable portion of their medical visit experience in our offices. Why? Is it the simple socializing effect? Why the chronically ill patients who are disabled due to their conditions and limited in all their activities of daily life enjoy sharing their experiences with other similar patients?
My observation tells me that the same terribly ill and disabled patient when starts to help other patients would feel strongly empowered. By sharing the ideas, giving advises or simply relieving tension by talking to others patients start normalizing their suffering by saying to each other: YOU ARE NOT ALONE. As soon as patients feel that they are HELPING ANOTHER PATIENT, they feel empowered and feel great about it. It does not cure any of their ailments, but their level of optimism and hope about life increases.
I believe that in our life paths we face many difficulties and suffer from many injuries, diseases or disappointments. We all struggle to feel better and come out of the shadow of our problems and conditions. In this journey I have noticed that one of the most magical effects come from helping others in any way we can. It does not have to be a very big thing to be valuable. There are many small things in life that can have a huge positive effect. Just letting others in suffering know that they are not alone is one of them.
IT IS MAGICAL HOW WE CAN HEAL OURSELVES BY HELPING OTHERS.
