Black humor among doctors: good or bad?
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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In a recent survey among physicians practicing palliative care for patients, it was found that three quarters of them became objects of "black" jokes associated with death. Most of these jokes came from fellow medical workers. An example of such a joke is the nickname "Doctor Death", which the medical team rewards its colleague.
Palliative care is the provision of medical, psychological and social assistance to an incurably patient patient. Its goal is not to slow the process of the disease, but to improve the quality of life of the patient and his relatives, that is, reducing his physical and mental suffering.
Doctors practicing palliative medicine, constantly see death and teach the deadly sick to take their departure from this world for granted, without painful experiences. Because most of these doctors calmly refers to the "podkolami" colleagues who can joke accuse the doctor, for example, in the murder of the patient. However, there are those whom such jokes offend.
"Such jokes can tell about the medical community that doctors and nurses are members of a pluralistic culture that, naturally, admits conflicting views on the help of the terminally ill and, in particular, on accelerating the approach of death in order to alleviate the sufferings of the patient," notes Lewis Cohen, MD, from the Tufts University School of Medicine.
"Medical workers have different origins, belong to different confessions, they come from different countries, and all these factors lead to quarrels among doctors," Cohen adds.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that due to different views on death, the "black" jokes of colleagues can offend individual doctors, Dr. Cohen emphasizes that it is not worthwhile to forbid medical workers to joke on such delicate topics. He refers to the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud, who argued that wit and humor can nullify even very strong negative emotions, and laughter provides emotional catharsis. In addition, humor brighter characterizes the social relations of a certain era, rather than specific people, which include jokes.
"In medicine, humor should remain a good defense mechanism from the harsh experiences associated with the professional duties of doctors. To patients, the same humor helps to die with dignity and even grace, "summarizes Dr. Lewis Cohen.
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