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A thread on poetry and medicine. The healing power of poetry goes beyond being soothed, being distracted, and feeling deep empathy & connection during pain and suffering. There are physical impacts too. There is SO much more to explore at this interface, esp for thriving 1/n
William Carlos Williams was a physician & one of my favourite modernist poets (he posthumously got a Pulitzer.) His poems & approach (summarized as "no ideas but in things") had a big impact on how I read poetry & the mechanisms by which I attend 2/n
http://www.doctorsreview.com/history/poetry-and-medicine-two-parts-whole/
http://www.doctorsreview.com/history/poetry-and-medicine-two-parts-whole/
There's a long history of physician-poets from early Egyptian docs to the chants/charms used by the ancients to cure supernatural diseases, onward to John Keats (1795-1821), Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894), Friedrich Schiller (1759-1895)... 3/n https://hekint.org/2017/04/28/poetry-in-medicine/
Rafael Campo is currently a poet-physician, an honoured author of award-winning poetry books. The coolest? "He teaches this practice to his medical students out of the belief that healing is more than just knowing how to respond to symptoms." 4/n http://www.rafaelcampo.com/
So why this combo?
Thru poetry, we distill our self expressions, attend to nuances of felt experience, and uniquely train tolerance for ambiguity. This last one? That's BIG for both physician & patient.
Creativity in ambiguous contexts is key to successful diagnosis. 5/n
Thru poetry, we distill our self expressions, attend to nuances of felt experience, and uniquely train tolerance for ambiguity. This last one? That's BIG for both physician & patient.
Creativity in ambiguous contexts is key to successful diagnosis. 5/n
Reading poetry aloud can improve listening, attention control, and accurate observation. It can also enhance critical thinking skills, empathy, and introspection. All nice things to have in our docs, right?
I'm fascinated by how this translates to the psychotherapy context.6/n
I'm fascinated by how this translates to the psychotherapy context.6/n
Doc Campo again, Harvard Medical School:
“When we read or hear a poem that’s truly effective, we feel what the speaker is feeling. We experience an entire immersion of ourselves in another’s consciousness.” For a few more examples & elaborations:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/rafael-campo-uses-his-stethoscope-to-explore-rhythms-of-poetry
7/n
“When we read or hear a poem that’s truly effective, we feel what the speaker is feeling. We experience an entire immersion of ourselves in another’s consciousness.” For a few more examples & elaborations:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/rafael-campo-uses-his-stethoscope-to-explore-rhythms-of-poetry
7/n
“Poetry is a beautifully condensed form of what all of language does, which is what captures the real world and turns it something manageable and meaningful"
http://nautil.us/issue/64/the-unseen/how-doctors-use-poetry 8/n
http://nautil.us/issue/64/the-unseen/how-doctors-use-poetry 8/n
The role of language in physical healing is huge and there's so little research on it. Placebo effects & the mechanisms by which they work are relevant but not enough.
I'm thinking we can't do this type of research without a transdisciplinary approach. 9/n
I'm thinking we can't do this type of research without a transdisciplinary approach. 9/n
There's a small bit of research directly looking at the impact of poetry in medical practice. I've found very little that's rigorous, but PLEASE if you know about more, I'd really appreciate some links.
Here's a couple of promising examples though... 10/n
Here's a couple of promising examples though... 10/n
Using psychophys, neuroimaging,& behavior, data showed that recited poetry elicits "peak emotional responses including chills & objectively measurable goosebumps that engage the primary reward circuitry."
(LOVE "objectively measured goosebumps")
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316630388_The_emotional_power_of_poetry_neural_circuitry_psychophysiology_compositional_principles 11/n
(LOVE "objectively measured goosebumps")
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316630388_The_emotional_power_of_poetry_neural_circuitry_psychophysiology_compositional_principles 11/n
Another: "...music &poetry produced a similar improvement in the pain intensity. The 2 therapies also affected depression scores, & only poetry increased hope scores"
Lots more to do to strengthen, replicate, & extend these findings, but interesting!
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27529806/ 12/n
Lots more to do to strengthen, replicate, & extend these findings, but interesting!
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27529806/ 12/n
I'm fascinated by the long history of poetry-medicine. But I'm thinking beyond physical illness & medical practice.
What I'm more curious to explore is how poetry (& the arts more generally) can be combined w/ psychological science to promote & accelerate human thriving. END/
What I'm more curious to explore is how poetry (& the arts more generally) can be combined w/ psychological science to promote & accelerate human thriving. END/
There's a whole other thread re. metaphors in not only medical practice, but any intervention that requires communication. Poetry teaches how to "do" good metaphor; often we communicate about the self/body so much better thru metaphor.
A practice that improves this capacity...
A practice that improves this capacity...
