Identifying existential concerns as an analytical tool: an eye-opener for the doctor

ABSTRACT

Existential concerns manifest themselves emotionally in patients. Emotions tend to be transferred between patient and doctor but the underlying existential concerns may remain hidden and obscure for both. If doctors understand that there are always existential concerns behind patients’ inquiries it becomes easier to relate to the patient’s feelings in an interested and curious way. Ultimately this benefits both doctors and patients.

We have observed five existential human concerns leads to strong emotions (1. death, 2. thrown-ness, 3. aloneness, 4. choosing (the imperative of choice) and 5. meaninglessness (the absence of objective meaning).

KEYWORDS:

• Existential concerns
• difficult patients
• emotions
• doctor patient relationship
• transference

Acknowledgments

We thank Roger Neighbour for comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.