This self-help book about motivation and preventive thinking is written by a medical practitioner who condemns the practice adopted by most private doctors of ?pronouncing bad prognosis for most of their patients? and magnifying a minor problem as a serious illness. His advice to doctors is??Do not over-investigate, over-intervene and over-operate? and ?do not take hope away from any patient?. His advice to patients is: ?Never lose hope. If your doctor says that your case is hopeless, do not believe him.?
He begins by talking of all kinds of patients whom he has come across in his life. He advises those who have recovered from a serious illness like cancer without resorting to any treatment; some are not interested in a prescription of medicines but simply want to talk to their doctor to be reassured. He talks of the avoider, who avoids going to a doctor as he fears that the check-up may reveal a serious illness. In such cases, the illness gets worse till it becomes a complicated medical case, often untreatable. Then there is the denier, who denies the presence of an illness and is not prepared to accept the fact that he is now less than perfect. The third category has the worrier who worries no end about his problem and is in great need of reassurance. The fourth category includes the acceptor who accepts the presence of the illness in his body without undue worry. Such a patient follows the advice of his doctor and is able to adjust his lifestyle as per the demands of his medical condition. Here the author also discusses the illness expector who lives in constant fear of an illness while the sympathy seeker is on the lookout of a person who will show him sympathy. The positive thinker is another category who is a diehard positive thinker, always looking at the silver lining and not at the dark clouds. The author concludes that the positive thinker recovers soon and with a minimum if medication. So he advises: ?To be healthy, fill your mind with all the positive and healthy thoughts.?
The book is by a doctor who began his career as a professor and after working as Chief Medical Officer at Muktsar, settled down in Chandigarh to run his clinic.
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