We all like to hear good news, but all we seem to hear is the bad because that's what makes the headlines (though it no longer sells papers).
Doctor: "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that your tests show you have an incurable condition with seven days to live."
Patient: "That's terrible, Doc! What's the bad news?"
Doctor: "I should have told you last week."
Bad news always grabs our attention because of the brain’s built in cognitive biases, in particular the negativity bias. Through evolution, early humans who could detect something wrong in their environment suggesting potential danger survived and we have all inherited high alarm settings for potential threats.
That negativity bias is so powerful that we need to see five positive things to balance out one negative, that's why you think your parents or partners complain all the time and why we disregard the positive aspects of our relationships in favour of the negative over time.
Another principle of neuroscience is attention density — what we focus on we amplify in our consciousness.
From cognitive behavioural therapy, we know that our thoughts can shape our feelings. When confronted with negative circumstances, refocusing on our resources and appreciating the positive aspects of our situation can amplify our sense of control. This has been shown to foster a sense of agency, reduce anxiety and lift our moods.
We all have health problems and we accumulate more with the passage of time — new chronic conditions, acute illnesses, infections, accidents and injuries. Our particular complaint of the day is like the loudest person in the room, drowning out the voice of the rest of the body that is humming along quite well. As long as we are alive, most of our bodies' systems are working well behind the scenes.
As we age, most of us will need reading glasses. Many of my patients have more serious causes of vision loss and some must cope with blindness. We may lose some of our hearing with age and noise exposure and require hearing aids, but some have lived their whole lives with complete deafness.
More inspiring than the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, were the performances of the Paralympians, who have transformed disabilities into elite abilities.
We can't ignore the problems in healthcare: the long wait times for ER assessments, operations, specialists and investigations, and the nation-wide shortage of family physicians. But we also have highly trained healthcare professionals providing a standard of care ranked among the best in the world. They continue to do their best for each patient in a calling that comes with extreme emotional and mental stress.
And although we do have a national shortage in family doctors, things are getting better in BC. Most people do have a family physician and more of our younger physicians are choosing family practice than in previous years.
We also have a Patient Attachment System that is getting those currently unattached to a primary care clinic on a waiting list to be matched to a family physician or nurse practitioner in their communities.
Thanksgiving is not only a time of appreciation and celebration of our relationships but a gentle reminder to reframe how we see our lives.
There are two parts of thanksgiving. The first, of course, is to appreciate what we have been given through the kindness of countless benefactors whom we often take for granted.
The second is the giving back. What can we do collectively and individually to give back and give forward to those around us and to our society?
Seeing the challenges we face together and those in need, how will you take positive action?
Dr. Davidicus Wong is a Burnaby family physician and has written for Glacier Media since 1991.
