When are you officially out of shape? That is a headline I have just read in someone else’s newsletter as I scroll through my daily emails. It never ceases to amaze me how much we seem to need someone or something from outside of us to tell us what is wrong with us and what we need. Have we really lost the ability to trust ourselves and our own bodies and minds and make decisions for ourselves?
Certainly, the noise is loud. You have to be strong and forthright to believe and take action on what you think is right. I recently had a close family member try to impress upon me how important it was to do ‘such-and-such a test.’ Her last push was to say “it’s because we care about you.” I was actually struck dumb in the moment, because as much as I love them, if I thought about the ways this person cared about me, there were surprisingly few. And the idea that they were using how much they cared about me to persuade me to do something medical also didn’t leave the most pleasant taste in my mouth.
It is the approach – using fear to persuade people to do things in the name of health. I have experienced this many times in my life. It is not easy saying no or I don’t want this. It is hard. You just have to be really focussed and clear about what the issue is about and that this is about you and your life. It is always a lot easier to make comments about other people’s lives, but this is about you. Don’t undervalue yourself.
Which leads me to one of the articles we have published in this issue which is an extract from the book Broken Brains by Jamila Rizvi and Rosie Waterland. This is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. And the reason why? Jamila and Rosie have very different stories about what has happened to them and their brains; Jamila is diagnosed with a brain tumour so writes about her experiences with our medical system, whilst Rosie having suffered terrible trauma, is sharing what happened in her life as she sought help with mental health. And they both cover so much. If you read this book, you will learn a lot. And we are very pleased to have been given permission to publish an extract from Broken Brains on p38-42, which is about an experience Rosie had in a hospital when she was feeling suicidal. It is just one example of what urgently needs changing. Having said that, I play music for people in aged care and with dementia sometimes, and for awhile I was working within a hospital environment, which was the first time for me. Not being trained in healthcare, or being a carer, or having worked in the medical system previously, it was amazing to see first-hand how it works – from a worker’s perspective. There is a lot that I could say but essentially, healthcare is a massive system that is not going anywhere, so it is up to us to understand it’s reason for being (which is to save lives) and to be as aware as we can of what it offers and how it works. We are truly very lucky to have these services available to us – if we choose them – with little to no cost. And so many nurses really dedicate their lives to their profession – they are extremely under-valued.
And then, if and when you are confronted with more urgent health decisions to make, what do you need to look out for? We have run two different articles on misdiagnoses in this issues, and included with these on p. 33 we include an article on how to advocate for your self in the doctor’s office which we think you might find really helpful.
I hope you enjoy the other research and articles we have included in this Winter 2025 magazine, and that you find at least one or two that warm the cockles of your heart.
CATE MERCER
Editor/Publisher
The Art of Healing
This Editor’s Note appeared in Vol 2 Issue 91 of The Art of Healing.
