The secret keeper.
Im always amazed at the level of confidence patients have in me when they divuge information they would not dare tell their spouses or closest friends. It gives me a thrill but also the weighty knowledge that their confidence cannot be broken under any circumstance.
What makes a man/woman decide to spill the beans on issues over a decade old to a mere stranger simply because he/she has a label 'Doctor' attached to his name. Is it the certainty that the doctor has sworn an oath forbidding him to spill secrets that loosens the tongues or the overpowering need to unburden a load that has weighed him down for eons?
Secrets are sacred things and I consider them holy ground, to be shared by one already desecrates the ground, to break the confidence is akin to a taboo. I would never dream of disclosing something shared with me. If I have a secret I'll probably not tell, not that I wont be tempted to whisper it to the grasses but the fear of the grass being turned to a flute and blown by someone to announce to the whole world 'that which was secret is secret no longer' is greater than the innate satisfaction I'll get from whetting someone elses ears!
The question is why do patients spill the beans? Is it the fear of death, illness, the unknown, lack of being able to predict the outcome of an illness? Can it be the overwhelming need to be whole, the need for absolution, the need to sleep without having the fear of the secret waking up before them? Can it be a need to exchange the load of secrets for the gift of health? Whatever it is secrets can't be kept forever!
At the other end of the spectrum Doctors are faced with the issue of trying to make a diagnosis with very little information. Many first time patients are usually reticent about disclosing information. Their motto is 'hide all'. It can be very frustrating when a picture could be painted but the patient and his relatives most times decide to pour an ink of black paint on a perfectly white canvas.
A new doctor many times is hood winked with the stories he is handed down by the patient but when a more senior doctor comes in, its obvious pranks are being played. More experience is garnered as to how to make patients spill the beans, the higher you go on the ladder! Things patients usually hide are numerous, sexual matters are usually covered many more times than others which include; the use of traditional medicines, alcohol use, the use of hard substances, cigarette smoking, visits to alternative medical practitioners!
Many times what they consider secrets are usually found out pretty fast. Doctors are detectives you know! An appeal to everyone tell your doctor the whole story, its easier to deduce from a whole piece than many titbits. Information given to us in the private confines of our consulting rooms is for our ears only except if you are a minor of course! A story for another day.
What makes a man/woman decide to spill the beans on issues over a decade old to a mere stranger simply because he/she has a label 'Doctor' attached to his name. Is it the certainty that the doctor has sworn an oath forbidding him to spill secrets that loosens the tongues or the overpowering need to unburden a load that has weighed him down for eons?
Secrets are sacred things and I consider them holy ground, to be shared by one already desecrates the ground, to break the confidence is akin to a taboo. I would never dream of disclosing something shared with me. If I have a secret I'll probably not tell, not that I wont be tempted to whisper it to the grasses but the fear of the grass being turned to a flute and blown by someone to announce to the whole world 'that which was secret is secret no longer' is greater than the innate satisfaction I'll get from whetting someone elses ears!
The question is why do patients spill the beans? Is it the fear of death, illness, the unknown, lack of being able to predict the outcome of an illness? Can it be the overwhelming need to be whole, the need for absolution, the need to sleep without having the fear of the secret waking up before them? Can it be a need to exchange the load of secrets for the gift of health? Whatever it is secrets can't be kept forever!
At the other end of the spectrum Doctors are faced with the issue of trying to make a diagnosis with very little information. Many first time patients are usually reticent about disclosing information. Their motto is 'hide all'. It can be very frustrating when a picture could be painted but the patient and his relatives most times decide to pour an ink of black paint on a perfectly white canvas.
A new doctor many times is hood winked with the stories he is handed down by the patient but when a more senior doctor comes in, its obvious pranks are being played. More experience is garnered as to how to make patients spill the beans, the higher you go on the ladder! Things patients usually hide are numerous, sexual matters are usually covered many more times than others which include; the use of traditional medicines, alcohol use, the use of hard substances, cigarette smoking, visits to alternative medical practitioners!
Many times what they consider secrets are usually found out pretty fast. Doctors are detectives you know! An appeal to everyone tell your doctor the whole story, its easier to deduce from a whole piece than many titbits. Information given to us in the private confines of our consulting rooms is for our ears only except if you are a minor of course! A story for another day.
"I wont be tempted to whisper it to the grasses but the fear of the grass being turned to a flute and blown by someone to announce to the whole world..." I love this phrase.
ReplyDeleteIt beats me....don't know how people do but, once you're told (a secret) you're magically bound by an unwritten oath.
While we're looking for more people in my office, one of our top-notch guys confided in me he's dropping his resignation end of this month. Management can definitely not hear not from me.