Page 26 - Winter2008

DISAPPOINTING ANSWERS not sure about how much that was going to work.
Unfortunately, a lot of medical diagnoses Anyway, human history has been clouded by
are like the diagnosis the farmer got from his trouble with relationships.”
proctologist. For example, eczema means “skin So now how do you feel? Not good, right?
rash” in Latin. So you go to an expensive der- She’s given you an unfulfilling answer.
matologist and tell him that your skin itches. The Today we live in the age that Rudolf Steiner,
dermatologist looks at it and five minutes later founder of Anthroposophy, called the Age of
he tells you that you have eczema. My guess is Consciousness. And today, there is only one
that 80-90 percent of all medical diagnoses are answer that would satisfy you in this situation.
actually the Latin translation of what the patient which is: “I don’t like you. I didn’t want to show
told the doctor. up because I didn’t want to spend that two hours
And that’s not what you want these days. on a date with you.” That answer might hurt
That’s not why people are going to the doctor. you, but it would also provide a deep satisfaction
The question is, what are patients really looking because it gives you the reason why this hap-
for? pened. You are disappointed but you’ll move on
Let me answer this with an analogy. Let’s because there is a certain sense of completeness
say you’re a young man and you’re interested in and fulfillment in the experience.
a young woman at your office. You ask her out I would submit to you that it’s exactly the
for a date and say, “I’ll meet you at this bar at same with medicine. You go to the doctor and you
seven o’clock on Friday night. I’ll see you there.” say, “My butt itches, I have a skin rash. When I
And she agrees. You’re really interested in her walk upstairs, I get chest pain.” Or, something
but you’re not so sure she’s interested in you. So that is very common these days: “I’m emotionally
on Friday evening, you show up at the bar. You depressed. I feel sad and lonely about life, espe-
wait and wait, until after eight o’clock, and she cially in the winter.” When you tell your doctor
doesn’t show up. that you are depressed during the winter months,
When you see her at the office the next day you don’t want to hear, “You have seasonal af-
you ask her, “What’s the deal? You didn’t show fective disorder.” That’s like telling you that the
up for our date? You said you were going to buses don’t run on time when you’ve been stood
come.” up on a date. Seasonal affective disorder means
And she answers, “Well, you know, the bus sadness during winter. Well, that’s what you told
system in San Francisco is not very good. There’s the doctor. “Now it’s winter and I’m sad, and you
all kinds of trouble. The supervisors are arguing tell me I have seasonal affective disorder?”
with each other about the public transportation Let’s say that you feel sad all the time, that
system. They don’t really run on time, and so I you have depression. Sometimes the doctor will
wasn’t there.” How do you feel when you hear say you have clinical depression. Clinical means
My guess is this kind of answer? It’s definitely an explana- a clinician (such as a doctor) told you that you’re
tion, and it’s probably true. Yes, there is trouble sad. Would you feel satisfied with that response?
that 80-90 with the public transportation system. But the “Oh, now I know what’s the matter with me.” Of
percent of question is, how do you feel when you hear that course not!

all medical explanation? You feel disappointed or unfulfilled, We live in the Age of the Consciousness
which is pretty much the same as you should feel Soul. Anything less than conscious choosing
diagnoses are if you’re told you have pruritus ani after a lot of about how we are going to live our life leaves
actually expensive tests. There’s a sense of inner disap- us feeling unsatisfied. And conscious choosing

the Latin pointment. This is not a fulfilling experience. means that we accept the consequences of our

So you go back to the young woman and say, choices. In other words, most people want to
translation “I don’t really like this explanation. Could you know, when they go to a doctor, what did I do?
of what the say more?” What are the consequences of the choices that I
“Well,” she says, “dates are not necessarily made with my diet, with my movement, with my
patient told good things because they lead to relationships, spiritual development, with my emotional life,
the doctor. and I don’t really like relationships, and so I’m with my choice of laundry soap, with my choice

26 Wise Traditions WINTER 2008