Blog 3

In Dhruv Khullar’s “The Trouble with Medicine Metaphors”, he discusses the influences that metaphors may have on chronically ill patients. When faced with an illness, society automatically uses “military metaphors” as Khullar would say, by creating a situation where the illness is a battle. Khullar argues that this comparison of an illness to a battle may be making things worst for the patient. Instead of going towards the problem with positivity, they resort to the pressures of “fighting a battle” not for themselves, but for their doctor and family. There have even been studies indicating that patients whose illnesses were not referred to as a battle showed lower levels of stress and depression. However, Khullar concludes with the importance of the patients perspective. Instead of referring to their illness automatically as a “fight”, doctors should converse with the patient as to how they see their illness.

Personally, I was back and forth with Khullar’s argument that illnesses should not be compared to a “fight”, or “battle”. Throughout the beginning of his article, Khullar continued to mention that the idea of a battle with a chronic illness would only result in a negative outlook from the patients perspective. However, I disagree. About seven months ago, I went through the removal of a benign tumor. This entire experience was a battle I never thought I’d face, and quite frankly a battle I’m proud to say I overcame. It was a fight between these rapidly multiplying cells inside my body, and my mental health. A fight I continued to tell myself every night that I would defeat, and I did. Attending breast cancer parades and seeing individuals with “fighter” pins and quotes about beating the battle reminds me of the strength that we all hold inside of us, despite the obstacles we are forced to face. On the other hand, I do agree with Khullar’s conclusion that the doctor should communicate with the patient before automatically connecting their illness with a battle. I found that allowing myself to become a strong soldier helped to push me through my entire experience. Although, I can see how for some individuals they may feel pressured into showing off their strength for the people counting on them in their lives, making everything much harder on their part. Despite the difference between my vision and Khullar’s, I believe that we can agree that the patient should decide how they metaphorically see their illness.

Metaphorically Speaking: “Metaphorical thinking is essential to how we understand ourselves and others, how we communicate, learn, discover and invent.” I chose this quote because it states to it’s audience the importance of metaphors on our psychological behaviors in our day to day lives.

See Through Words: “It’s the classic look at how metaphors structure the way we think and talk, and once you’ve read it, you can’t help but agree that, at a conceptual level, life is a journey, and arguments are wars.” Metaphors are often opening up doors for our thinking, allowing us to see both sides of an idea and influencing how we think about it.

The Trouble With Medicine’s Metaphors: “Metaphors allow doctors to develop a common language with patients, and offer patients an avenue to express their emotions and exert agency over their conditions.” Metaphors give the patient a better description of what their body is going through when they face serious illnesses, and allow them to express their emotions towards how they visualize their situation.