brianlynchmd.com

[drlynch]

"Small" posts like this, I like to think, are the most important as they are the most practical.

I was recounting to a patient yesterday how when I get the chance, usually on a plane, I like to to read through several newspapers, if I think of it, and if I concentrate on it, it will be a pretty sure bet that I can pinpoint an article with a "shame" theme in short order. Point? Point being that shame is always right under our noses. Again and again why do we ignore this valuable information?

So in this case I was reading, I believe, the Wall Street Journal and there was an article about cardiac resuscitation and the long and short of it was that at the end of the article it was noted that lives could be saved if people where not embarrassed about calling 911.

Not "embarrassed" about calling 911? We would rather die than have the paramedics show up or get to the ER and have someone tell us that it is an upset stomach or a panic attach than a heart attack.

So how important is the teaching of shame and humiliation. You can bet your life. Hey I can see myself doing this.


"For one interested in shame the problem is not that it is difficult to find examples worth study. Rather, the more significant puzzle is how it has managed to elude us until now. The most common of unpleasant experiences is also the lest discussed." Don Nathanson From "Shame and Pride"