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Healing, Wounding, and the Language of Medicine

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Whole Person Care

Abstract

If clinical medicine is, at least in part, the art of human interactions, then words are its stock in trade. The words we use form the mental models of our lived worlds and shape our perceptions, understandings, and meanings. Given the power of language to bend our thoughts and minds, it is hardly a surprise to discover the influence of verbal interactions on our affect, mindset, and physical and mental well being. Mother’s words shape the development of her infant’s brain, and lack of verbal stimulation leaves traces visible to the neuropathologist. A comforting word can light up a face, and a voodoo curse can cause cramps in the guts of a believer. The language of the clinical setting can lead to effects and outcomes as potent as those following the administration of pharmacologic agents, yet the powerful agency of words in healing or wounding receives scant attention in contemporary medicine – there is no linguistic materia medica in the library.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Despite this, the Web site of the Lance Armstrong Foundation tells us to “Find out how you can get involved in the fight against cancer.”

  2. 2.

    The most egregious example that I have heard was related by a colleague in gynecology who heard the following statement at a conference: “the patient perforated her uterus during the procedure.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McGill University, 3647 Peel Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 1X1, Canada

    Abraham Fuks (Professor of Medicine)

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  1. Abraham Fuks
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Correspondence to Abraham Fuks .

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  1. McGill Programs in Whole Person Care, McGill University, Pine Ave W. 546, Montreal, H2W 1S6, Québec, Canada

    Tom A. Hutchinson

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Fuks, A. (2011). Healing, Wounding, and the Language of Medicine. In: Hutchinson, T. (eds) Whole Person Care. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9440-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9440-0_8

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