Hope is Healthy
You are about to go to the hospital for a routine surgical procedure. Which attitude is healthier?
A. d better find out everything I can about this operationyou can never know too much.
B. Dont tell me the details. Its going to be fine.
Answer B is supposed to be the wrong one. Its an example of what psychologists call denial, a defence mechanism that minimizes uncomfortable information. Denial, they have argued, is stupid, self-defeating and ultimately dangerous.
But research is showing that answer B is a faster route to recovery. Denialof a certain sort and at certain timescan be healthy. Of course, you do need to pay attention to some unpleasant facts. The trick is to know when its helpful to worry and when its counterproductive.
Out-and-out denial may be the best approach to surgery, according to Richard S. Lazarus, professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. With Frances Cohen, Lazarus studied 61 patients about to undergo operations . In general, patients followed one of two mental strategies; avoidance or vigilance.
Typically, avoiders had not discussed their surgery in detail with anyone, didnt want to know about it and didnt dwell upon its risks.
In contrast, vigilant types were alert to every detail. Many sought out articles about their disorders. They wanted to know the risks of surgery, the risks if surgery was not performed, the surgical procedures, the potential complications and the likelihood of recurrence.
When Lazarus and Cohen compared the two groups after surgery, they found that avoiders got on much better. They had a lower incidence of postoperative complications such as nausea , headache, fever and infection. The net result: they were discharged sooner.
One reason may be that their denial make room for hope, or at least for a positive outlook, even under the grimmest of conditions. Never deny the diagnosis, but do deny the negative opinion that may go with it, advises Norman Cousins, author of Anatomy of an Illness and The Healing Heart. Why? Because grim warnings about diseases come from statistics on the average case. Cousins believes that most patients, given hope and determination, have a good chance to transcend the averages.
Adds Dr. Hackett: Deniers see the machines theyre hooked up to as helping them to get well, not as a sign of a badly functioning heart. Those who feel most positive about their ability to get well tend to do better than those who fear and worry more.
Of course, none of these researchers would conclude that denial is the best approach to all medical matters. A diabetic must monitor blood sugar; a kidney patient must keep track of dialysis ; a woman who finds a lump in her breast must not delay in having it diagnosed.
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