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patient has the right to find someone to listen to him, as the human being is not a deaf machine, or his spare parts can be replaced to restart working again. The human being is a mix of three elements - body, soul and nafs. The soul's nature is known only to my Lord, as Allah Almighty said: "They ask you O Prophet about the spirit. Say its nature is known only to my Lord, and you O humanity have been given but little knowledge". (17:85).
If the soul (spirit) is as such, then the body and nafs are the creation of Allah Almighty, and he made them understandable by the human being. The doctor, regardless of his specialty, is not responsible for the patient's body only, otherwise he will find himself dealing with one third of the human being, and will not get the outstanding grade regardless of how skilled he is.
The successful doctor is one who deals with what went bad and mend it, and what goes sick and remedy it, and in the case of the human being, only the body gets sick and tired. "And by the soul and the one who fashioned it, (91:7), then with the knowledge of right and wrong inspired it! (91:8). Successful indeed is the one who purifies their soul (91:9) and doomed is the one who corrupts it! (91:10).
That is why the elders of medicine were keen on listening to the patient, and they made the patient's complaint the most important and first step taken by the doctor when he meets his patient for the first time, as listening to him does not only mean taking the history of his illness; rather it is to take his time to understand the complaint and its complications, so the doctor can understand the psychological links of the illness, then move to examine the body, and get into it with laboratory tests and X-rays to reach the final decision. Many are patients whose problem is in their minds, and if the doctor was not listening carefully, diagnosis would be wrong and may lead to unpleasant results.
Today, we see some doctors, with regret, surrounding the patient's body from all sides with tests and X-ray dates, and you find patients roaming in hospital departments. There are blood analyses and x-rays, and the patient may reach a point of tests that invade his body or cut part of him. At the end, the problem may be discovered, and this journey of torture may end with a psychological problem, which if the doctor picked up from the start, he would have saved the patient and health services much exhaustion, effort and loss.
My dear doctors, all of you know that psychology has a direct effect on our bodies, a positive effect that makes the body stronger and more beautiful and a negative effect that may paralyze the body, exhaust it, and may cause pain that medicines will not have effect on. And if it was not for Allah Almighty's mercy, and for Him to remove the nafs from us when we go to sleep, many of us would not get rest even during sleeping.
"Allah, who calls back the souls of people upon their death as well as the souls of the living during their sleep. Then he keeps those for whom he has ordained death, and releases the others until their appointed time. Surely in this are signs for people who reflect. (39:42)
For that the nafs must be given what it deserves. It is a must to hear from the patient and listen to him patiently in a calm atmosphere, because he comes to the doctor to complain about his illness, so let us listen to him, as many are the problems that were solved by listening, and many are the patients whose suffering lasted long because they did not find one who listens to them.
In 2019, there was one person out of eight, or 970 million persons around the world, suffering from psychological disorders, with anxiety and depression the most prominent among others (report by WHO). The comprehensive work plan for psychological health 2013-2030 issued by WHO recognized the importance of the role of psychological health in bringing health to all people.
Psychological health, despite its importance, does not get full interest by all doctors, and there are some of those who make a medical decision not understanding the importance of taking interest in psychological health in every site of treatment and not limit it to one hospital. There must be in every clinic and in every ward a counseling room to listen to and discuss with the patient. This is the true medicine - its core is the human being and its end is the human being, in his body and soul.
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