[Walter Matthias Diggelmann--the healing effect of story telling]

"Stories are weapons against disease" wrote Swiss writer WM Diggelmann (1927-1979). In writing stories he hoped to counteract the lethal course of his cancer. In the past it had helped him to overcome destitution and social disgrace and had given him identity. His last story Walking on the Island of St. Margaret is a ritual which conjures up an intact future by celebrating the past. Stories try to explain the world. They inform or clarify emotions. In telling stories, doctors and nurses demonstrate sympathy and understanding. Perhaps even greater benefits might be derived from patients telling their own stories. In doing so they emerge as individuals and give their lives purpose. Language is more than communication: it is shelter, link, home, ritual. Storytelling helps patients cope with their diseases. It is not clear whether this or any technique of psychotherapy has any effect upon the course of cancer.