Why Some Doctors Have Started Asking Patients About Their Spiritual Lives
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Some doctors are now inquiring about patients' spiritual lives to better understand their overall well-being, sparking discussions about the role of spirituality in healthcare.
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It's a really fine line "holistic" practice in general has had to tread to not insult either the strictly religious, or the strictly irreligious. But it's potentially the sphere where this advice could come from. Do you have connections to a community? Do you take time for self-care? Have you taken a walk in nature lately? Do you try to do things mindfully? Have you tried taking stock at the end of the day with journaling in order to empty the mind of worry before sleep? this kind of advice is aimed at physical bases for positive effects on feelings of well-being we often lump into "spirituality" which are really more mind and body hacks than anything else.
Any variety of "what is your spiritual belief" would get me to clam up, though, for the reasons I said.
There's also another factor that, if the health care provider in front of me isn't someone I already know pretty well, I'd assume that they're asking as a prelude to some sort of effort to evangelize to me or condemn me because in any other setting, that question is almost always such a prelude. Rightly or wrongly, it would make me suspicious of and on guard with the health care provider.