The nature of suffering and the goals of medicine - PubMed (original) (raw)
The nature of suffering and the goals of medicine
E J Cassel. N Engl J Med. 1982.
Abstract
The question of suffering and its relation to organic illness has rarely been addressed in the medical literature. This article offers a description of the nature and causes of suffering in patients undergoing medical treatment. A distinction based on clinical observations is made between suffering and physical distress. Suffering is experienced by persons, not merely by bodies, and has its source in challenges that threaten the intactness of the person as a complex social and psychological entity. Suffering can include physical pain but is by no means limited to it. The relief of suffering and the cure of disease must be seen as twin obligations of a medical profession that is truly dedicated to the care of the sick. Physicians' failure to understand the nature of suffering can result in medical intervention that (though technically adequate) not only fails to relieve suffering but becomes a source of suffering itself.
Similar articles
- [The analysis of physicians' work: announcing the end of attempts at in vitro fertilization].
Santiago-Delefosse M, Cahen F, Coeffin-Driol C. Santiago-Delefosse M, et al. Encephale. 2003 Jul-Aug;29(4 Pt 1):293-305. Encephale. 2003. PMID: 14615699 French. - Suffering and the goals of medicine.
van Hooft S. van Hooft S. Med Health Care Philos. 1998;1(2):125-31. doi: 10.1023/a:1009923104175. Med Health Care Philos. 1998. PMID: 11081289 - The biopsychosocial approach to adolescents with somatoform disorders.
Kreipe RE. Kreipe RE. Adolesc Med Clin. 2006 Feb;17(1):1-24. doi: 10.1016/j.admecli.2005.11.003. Adolesc Med Clin. 2006. PMID: 16473291 Review. - Compassionate solidarity: suffering, poetry, and medicine.
Coulehan J. Coulehan J. Perspect Biol Med. 2009 Autumn;52(4):585-603. doi: 10.1353/pbm.0.0130. Perspect Biol Med. 2009. PMID: 19855127 - [The physician confronting the patient's suffering].
Alvarez del Río A. Alvarez del Río A. Rev Invest Clin. 2009 Mar-Apr;61(2):173-80. Rev Invest Clin. 2009. PMID: 19637731 Review. Spanish.
Cited by
- Flourishing at the end of life.
Symons X, Rhee J, Tanous A, Balboni T, VanderWeele TJ. Symons X, et al. Theor Med Bioeth. 2024 Oct;45(5):401-425. doi: 10.1007/s11017-024-09679-x. Epub 2024 Aug 20. Theor Med Bioeth. 2024. PMID: 39162937 Free PMC article. - Storylines of family medicine V: ways of thinking-honing the therapeutic self.
Ventres WB, Stone LA, Shapiro JF, Haq C, Leão JRB, Nease DE Jr, Grant L, Mercer SW, Gillies JCM, Blasco PG, De Benedetto MAC, Moreto G, Levites MR, DeVoe JE, Phillips WR, Uygur JM, Egnew TR, Stanley CS. Ventres WB, et al. Fam Med Community Health. 2024 Apr 12;12(Suppl 3):e002792. doi: 10.1136/fmch-2024-002792. Fam Med Community Health. 2024. PMID: 38609087 Free PMC article. - A critical view on using "life not worth living" in the bioethics of assisted reproduction.
Kandlbinder AE. Kandlbinder AE. Med Health Care Philos. 2024 Jun;27(2):189-203. doi: 10.1007/s11019-023-10191-7. Epub 2024 Feb 16. Med Health Care Philos. 2024. PMID: 38363499 Free PMC article. - Palliative Care Psychiatry: Building Synergy Across the Spectrum.
Shalev D, Brenner K, Carlson RL, Chammas D, Levitt S, Noufi PE, Robbins-Welty G, Webb JA. Shalev D, et al. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2024 Mar;26(3):60-72. doi: 10.1007/s11920-024-01485-5. Epub 2024 Feb 8. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2024. PMID: 38329570 Review. - Walking Alongside: Views of Family Members on Medical Assistance in Dying for Mental Illness as the Sole Underlying Medical Condition.
Bastidas-Bilbao H, Stergiopoulos V, Cappe V, van Kesteren MR, Stewart DE, Gupta M, Simpson AIF, Dawthorne M, Rajji TK, Castle D, Hawke LD. Bastidas-Bilbao H, et al. Qual Health Res. 2023 Nov;33(13):1140-1153. doi: 10.1177/10497323231197365. Epub 2023 Sep 29. Qual Health Res. 2023. PMID: 37773095 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources