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We often do not know what to say to someone who is suffering from something - an illness, or a loss. Often we are conditioned to how the one suffering perceives it. Here's a POV.
We often do not know what to say to someone who is suffering from something – an illness, or a loss. Often we are conditioned to how the one suffering perceives it. Here’s a POV.
I’d like to take a moment to pen down my thoughts about breast cancer and what that has taught me about communication.
My maternal grandmom had breast cancer. Till her last breath, she did not want to make it known to anyone. I’m not sure she even knew I knew about it. So much is the stigma and shame attached to breast cancer.
I don’t feel comfortable talking about her with respect to this illness since it was not her desire to have people know about it. Now, she is up in heaven… but I do feel it is important for those living with the illness not to feel this way.
I know another friend (who I consider close although we are only intermittently in touch) who had breast cancer. She used to run in marathons and was very active in the runners’ circuit. She still is. She, too, developed breast cancer a few years back. She openly spoke about it through articles in newspapers where she gave readers advice on how to handle a patient who has had breast cancer or who is suffering from it.
I’m not sure even my initial whatsapp message to her once I knew of her illness was appropriate. I truly just didn’t know what to say. It may have come across badly although I’m sure she knows that I meant well.
This is why it is so important to spread awareness about illnesses and how to handle someone with an illness. Often, even well-meaning people who care about us express their concern in a way that hurts us. We may realize years later that the person meant well, but the damage is done to that person.
As a communication specialist, I recognize the need for better interpersonal communication. The irony is that despite being in the field myself, I have often been severely misunderstood. It is important to know how one is coming across to another person. It is important to listen to understand, than just listen to respond.
There is no shame in having an illness. But as a friend or relative of a person with an illness, it is more important that you not shame the patient!
Everybody has a story of their own. Everybody has emotional baggage. It is important to realize that when a person acts a certain way toward you, it is more a reflection on that person rather than a reflection on you.
This may seem like psychobabble to some people, but don’t books and psychology have most of the answers to life? I think they do!
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Editor, Bibliophile, Blogger, Writer, Poet. I find reading helps me make sense of the world and I find writing therapeutic. read more...
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He said that he needed sometime to himself. I waited for him as any other woman would have done, and I gave him his space, I didn't want to be the clingy one.
Trigger Warning: This deals with mental trauma and depression, and may be triggering for survivors.
I am someone who believes in honesty and trust, I trust people easily and I think most of the times this habit of mine turns into bane.
This is a story of how a matrimonial website service turned into a nightmare for me, already traumatized by the two relationships I’ve had. It’s a story for every woman who lives her life on the principles of honesty and trust.
This can have a drastic effect on other victims of domestic violence. It will also encourage the abuser that they can now threaten their victim that he/she may end up like Amber Heard on the internet.
The lives of actors, be they from Hollywood or Bollywood, trouble my peace. Though they are worshipped by their fans, the real-life of many is quite troubled. It is scary to see what money and fame can do to a person. These are the people who have made me realize that fame and money are not that important.
I usually try to avoid reading about actors and their lives but there is no escape when the internet gets flooded with news and you come across it again and again as it happened with Aryan Khan’s arrest, Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, or now Amber Heard v/s Johnny Depp case.
We clearly see the pattern of uncivilized society in the above-mentioned cases where the mass verdict is passed even before the jury or judge passes the sentence. Usually, there is no middle ground for these people who are just there to make a topic trending on the internet. One is black and the other is white, there are no shades of grey for these modern-day witch hunters.