[Emotional reasons for therapeutic failures]

Area of Science:

• Medical Philosophy
• Clinical Psychology

Context:

• Current medical practice remains rooted in a 17th-century mechanistic worldview.
• This perspective fosters physician detachment and a sense of omnipotence.
• Physicians may neglect patient-evoked emotions, such as anxiety or anger, to avoid confronting their own feelings.

Purpose:

• To explore the impact of a mechanistic worldview on medical practice.
• To identify emotional and cognitive barriers preventing physicians from adopting more holistic approaches.
• To analyze how adherence to unproven alternative medicine contributes to treatment errors.

Summary:

• The persistence of a mechanistic medical paradigm impedes progress.
• Physicians' emotional avoidance and reliance on unverified alternative therapies contribute to treatment mistakes.
• Giving up the mechanistic view requires physicians to relinquish control and confront difficult emotions, which is often resisted.

Impact:

• Highlights the need for a paradigm shift in medical education and practice.
• Suggests that addressing physicians' emotional responses and cognitive biases is crucial for improving patient outcomes.
• Underscores the risks associated with uncritical adoption of alternative medicine without efficacy validation.