[Health Column] Reason + Emotion... The Best 'Prescription'

[Asia Economy] People are at peace when reason and emotion are in harmony. Nevertheless, when cold rationality is required, people often make wrong judgments swayed by emotions. This is especially true in fearful or urgent situations.

Human emotions also greatly influence medical processes. In the case of terminal cancer patients, treatments such as chemotherapy are carried out for the moral best interests of caregivers and doctors, regardless of the patient's wishes. Patients end their lives receiving treatment in hospitals without having time to calmly prepare for death. Even caregivers recognize rationally that such treatments are statistically meaningless, but emotionally it is difficult to accept the harsh reality.

Emotions tend to intervene more than reason in diagnosing the cause of pain. This is because the definition of pain itself includes "emotional unpleasantness." When emotions interfere in the diagnostic process, treatments may ultimately proceed in the wrong direction.

One emotion that affects diagnosis is anger. This is especially true when patients have suffered from pain for a long time and treatments at many other medical institutions have been ineffective. Patients facing another doctor in a state of heightened anger tend to be aggressive toward the physician, demanding certainty and speed. In such cases, it is difficult for doctors to obtain temporal and probabilistic consent for general treatments, which are rational procedures.

As a result, doctors may abandon the clinical diagnosis of the vaguely sounding "neuralgia" and present a more specific and seemingly certain radiological diagnosis such as "disc stenosis." Also, the patient's anger that "all treatments have been tried" forces the doctor to choose surgery as the treatment method. In such cases, spinal surgery failure syndrome may occur, and only then do patients regret not heeding the doctor's advice?when it is already irreversible.

Emotions also influence patients in doctors' diagnoses. Fear is one such emotion. When fear is aroused, patients tend to comply with the doctor's diagnosis without resistance. For example, a patient who hears that without surgery for a partial rotator cuff tear they will not be able to use their shoulder finds it difficult to refuse the doctor's surgical recommendation. Few patients refuse disc surgery after being told they might not be able to walk. Even expensive procedures are accepted without rational reconsideration. Of course, surgery is sometimes absolutely necessary. The problem is that fear can be exploited to promote profit.

Decisions made when emotions dominate often lead to regret. Doctors and patients should be partners moving toward the same goal. At the very least, one side should not impose excessive emotions on the other to force a direction. Even after joint consideration and effort in diagnosis and treatment, undesired outcomes may occur. In such cases, at least both sides believe they did their best and accept the results. However, when someone forces a direction, only resentment toward the other and regret over the decision remain.

Park Yongseok, Director of Haengbok Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Clinic

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.