Take Charge of Your Health

Whenever something that has been etched in granite is threatened by a new trend or force, we become uneasy. We strive hard to maintain the status quo. Our familiarity gene feels comfortable with routine, a knowingness that our expectations will be met. There’s nothing more threatening to the human mind than no longer feeling in charge.

Apply this to your health and healthcare. Most boomers are accustomed to old paradigm: we get ill, see our physician, and take a pill. Now think for a moment about how that simple concept involves three profoundly complex interactions. First, we the consumer, the patient, the client –whatever term you use - consults an expert. That expert, caregiver, physician – whatever title you use – has traditionally been in charge of the patient’s health and body (our body). Third, the pharmaceutical industry influences the interaction between patient and physician. Let us explore these interactions more closely.

The perception of illness places us in a position of weakness, of requiring an outside authority to heal us. Since we see the physician as the caregiver and ourselves as the receiver, the concept that one of us is in charge, usually the physician, is established. That places the patient or the client in the position of passivity, having very little or no participation in the dance of health. That perpetuates the physician as the authority figure, forever precluding a cooperative venture.

I see so many women every day intimidated by the God-like stature of the doctor. They feel shy and foolish to speak of such intimate and vital topics such as sexuality, or urine loss, or profound depression. Yet, these conditions are the fabric of many lives, and in a most important way, affect a person’s self-esteem. If we give power to another person when it comes to health issues, we also can give away chunks of self-esteem.

Furthermore, this position of passivity keeps us entrenched in old thinking: I am ill; my doctor will fix me. Therefore, I have no responsibility in my health. And since most interactions involve receiving a prescription, the well-known cycle is complete. The patient gets a quick fix, the doctor can get to see more patients, and the pharmaceutical industry can continue rewarding its CEOs with tremendous salaries.

Now, may I joggle your complacency – your familiarity gene - for a moment while I present another paradigm. In this paradigm, we are the ones in charge of our minds and bodies. When a patient comes to me, one who is well-informed and in-tune with hr body, I, the physician, am forced out of my complacency of being in charge, and pushed into a fascinating dialogue with this fellow traveler. We share philosophies of healthcare, and even may share painful life events that can serve to reinforce our connectedness. We are in partnership.

Being in charge of oneself converts that passive, needy self into an active participant, the very catalyst required to mobilize our self-healing. Now, gentle readers, do not for one moment assume that that this is an easy task: this is hard work. It incorporates many principles that I will address in future columns, such as taking time for yourself every day for exercise, paying attention to the food you consume, planning ahead for meals, and feeding your spiritual life. This major paradigm shift is a challenge for patient and practitioner alike. But it is worth working on, worth working for, worth changing for – and all in the name of health and wellness.