Helen Salisbury: The weight of emotions

Patients bring many things with them to the consulting room. Some we’re expecting, including their symptoms, thoughts, worries, and expectations; some are unexpected but a nice surprise—chocolates and biscuits, homemade jam, allotment produce—while others are less welcome. These include evidence of illness presented in a nappy or handkerchief, and occasional parasites that remain after the patient has departed (we had a recent problem with bedbugs, resulting in a stressed and itchy nurse and a clinical room out of action as it awaits a deep clean).Patients also bring their grief, anger, frustration, and fear or sense of loss in varying measures. Some have spent a long time ricocheting around our dysfunctional health and care system, and for them we try to provide a calm place and a plan, or at the very least a space where they feel heard. I’m aware of my own privilege and good fortune as I listen…
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