Re: "Why Doctors Need Stories"

10/19/14



To the editor: 



Peter Kramer (Why Doctors Need Stories, 10/18/14), by focusing on the value of storytelling for patients and doctors alike, brings to our attention the limitations of a strictly evidence based medicine. The latter emphasizes how people with a certain condition are similar; narrative medicine (as the alternative is often described) emphasizes each person's unique circumstance. The integration of these approaches is not only important for compassionate and empathic care; it also serves as a corrective, especially for psychiatric illness in two respects. First, the cultural 'narrative' borne of massive advertising campaigns by drug companies has equated depression with 'biological illness' - a gross oversimplification that encourages overprescribing. Second, the co-creation of a narrative within psychotherapy is healing - no doubt affecting biology - for many patients with depression.



Respectfully submitted,


Larry S. Sandberg MD