We’ve become strangers in our own lives. Drowning in technology, we’ve forgotten the simple art of living. We’ve forgotten how to feel.
It is so often that I see people wasting their precious time looking into the void.
People would use to wait for the bus and start conversations with the people around them. It gradually stopped happening. Now we prefer to dive head-on into our mobiles.
We live afraid. Afraid of making contact. Afraid of chatting to someone, who for all we know, might eat us alive. Afraid of getting bored. But it is in boredom that the most amazing ideas and reflections surge.
We hide behind screens, not just because it’s easy, but because real human contact with someone we barely know can sometimes be scary. The fact that one could get rejected is harrowing.
And doctors, despite their calling, aren’t immune. Technology, like in life, has its way of pulling us from the human side of care.
Being attentive doctors
Doctors are no exception to these problems, sometimes forgetting or avoiding looking at their patients. They’d rather check the latest blood count or get transfixed with the missing results of some already long-lost test. Possibly afraid of silence, being uncomfortable, or getting too close to patients.
Don’t get me wrong, wonderful doctors and tests save patients’ lives. But just as it is important for doctors to be effective and order tests, it is equally important to look at the person before you. Look beyond your screen. Look into the patient’s eyes.
You can tell so much about a patient by paying attention and being in the moment. Use your senses, live.
No, your computer can’t smell. That weird odor? Might wanna check it.
Sherlock Holmes was based on Joseph Bell, a 19th-century doctor who had incredible deduction powers using his senses.
There are countless signs and cues any doctor could easily miss. These tell-tale little details can sometimes be hard to spot, but when identified they could hint at the patient’s condition.
Imagine a 30-year-old patient who lives in the countryside isolated from the modern-day hustle. She may not visit doctors often, though one thing she may do quite well is live in the present.
She had been complaining of fatigue, tremors, and odd mood swings, and nothing seemed to fit the pieces together.
Doctors living on autopilot, thinking about when the shift will end or when they’ll get to eat again. Looking down at their computers, they might start ordering many tests without much of a clue of what may be affecting the patient. This collection of symptoms may very well resemble many pathologies.
Patient sit. Doctor click. Machine show data. Data not answer. Brain answer.
Other doctors paying attention might appreciate that warm sun-ray gently caressing their faces, making them feel like they’re inside a womb again. Being present and establishing eye contact might allow them to see a golden-brown ring encircling the edge of her cornea, barely visible but stunningly glowing with the sun.
Those who were observant most likely will better target the diagnosis tests. It turns out the answer was in her eyes, these rings, known as Kayser-Fleischer rings, are typically seen in patients with Wilsons disease.
I love to geek-out on cool little things, these are only a few of the many signs we can easily miss when not fully present. It’s about seeing the patient, not just the results.
- Kayser-Fleischer Rings – Wilson’s disease
- Osler’s nodes and Janeway lesions – endocarditis
- Raccoon eyes and Battle’s sign – basilar skull fracture
- Muehrcke’s sign – hypoalbuminemia
- Terry’s nails – liver disease
- Koilonychia – iron deficiency
- Arcus senilis – hypercholesterolemia
- Acanthosis nigricans – insulin resistance
- Gottron’s papules – dermatomyositis
- Cullen’s sign – pancreatitis
- Sister Mary Joseph nodule – metastatic cancer
- Clubbing – chronic hypoxia
Please if you ever have one of these, don’t just assume you have the associated condition, but maybe do get it looked at!
Be more attentive, stop auto-piloting
It’s evident when someone is all there or not. If they’re daydreaming, or doing something else. Physically somewhere but mentally elsewhere.
I think people who are here and now will establish stronger rapport with the people around them.
Many people long how naive and ecstatic children are. I think we have much to learn from them. Their ability to live in the moment remains unmatched. This is what keeps them so curious and happy.
Brain wander? Focus back. Life happens now, not later.
“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
And I think remembering is equally important, it is essential to our existence. Experiences shape who we are.
We’re human. We yearn to remember and be remembered. We long to find our place to be readied before winter comes. To be able to crystalize before we gently fall only to reunite and slowly dissolve again.
Everyone likes to feel listened to and acknowledged. But we must find time for everything. I guess what I’m saying is that one should make time for reflection, and when not reflecting, one should be present.
In the end, what we remember is how we lived and connected. It’s in the quiet moments, the reflections, that we make sense of it all.