THE NEW LANGUAGE OF MEDICINE: WHAT TO SAY WHILE YOU'RE WAITING FOR THE AMBULANCE.
by
J. Acosta, LCSW, CHT
"During periods of great stress, words that seem immaterial or are uttered in jest, might become fixed in the patient's mind and cause them harm..." (American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 1987)
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You're walking down the road. A man is hit by a car in front of you. He rolls and lands at your feet.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"
After a few mili-seconds of horror, we naturally and correctly think of what we can DO, meaning calling 911, applying compresses, covering a person with a blanket, etc...
So, you call 911. And let's assume you use all your first aid training or CPR appropriately. The ambulance is on the way. When you're done DOING, what do you SAY?
"It was the worst feeling I'd ever had. I did all the right things, everything I'd learned as a paramedic. But she looked at me, like she wanted me to comfort her in some way. She was hurt so badly. I just didn't know what to say. I just kept repeating 'It's all right. It's all right.' It was a feeble attempt. I knew it wasn't all right at all."
N.A., a skilled and well-respected Westchester paramedic, had been standing with a woman hit by a car. She had broken bones, multiple lacerations, profuse bleeding. She was in pain. In a class of paramedics, he spoke at length about how he wished he knew what to say, even though, as a paramedic of many years experience, he was sure of his field technique. He knew what to do, but not what to say. Intuitively and wisely, he knew she needed to hear something, but he didn't know what it was or what would help her.
WORDS AS HEALING TOOLS
Knowing the right words at the right time can make a critical difference-sometimes the difference between life and death. Maybe you've taken CPR. More than likely, you have a First Aid book on your shelf in the kitchen. But when the crisis hits, after you've called 911, what do you do? What do you say? "Hang in there, Joe," while heartfelt, is not exactly helpful. Words, well-chosen, well-said, can facilitate rapid healing of burns, lower an elevated blood pressure, reduce pain and increase compliance.
Conversely, words ill-chosen, thoughtlessly used, can cause great damage by encouraging hyperventilation, increasing anxiety and thereby pain response and bleeding, destabilizing heart rate and pulse, and over-stimulating the immune system, to name but a few of the ways. Dr. Dabney Ewin, MD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry & Surgery, who teaches medical hypnosis to the students at Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans, has said that words are extremely influential in the processing of information and our physiological responses. "Our pharmacopoeia in hypnosis is the dictionary. Just as you pick the right drug in practicing medicine, you pick the right words in practicing hypnosis." He has also warned other physicians that "our patients are frequently frightened and we need to be careful what we say."
Everyone who grew up in the U.S. within the last 75 years remembers the ditty: "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never harm me." Well, that may not be entirely the case. What you say to a person who's been hurt can significantly influence the outcome. As much as what you do.
How is that? How do words have such a profound impact on our physiological processes?
J. Acosta is a writer and practicing clinical psychotherapist. She has written two books: THE WORST IS OVER (2002, Jodere) and THE NEXT OSAMA (2006). Her third is due to come out some time next year and she is currently in the middle of her fourth.
She has her practice in New Mexico with her canine therapeutic assistants. She has worked with anxiety and fear in patients for twenty years. She has watched it, felt it, wrote about it, and helped heal people from it. As a result, she has learned a few things about fear, particularly that growing epidemic she calls VIRAL FEAR.
