On reading Chapter eleven, I find most of the content more illuminating and reaffirming to the previous knowledge and perceptions that I held regarding the significance of emotional intelligence in our health. While I did consider emotional intelligence and reactions of a patient in medical practices as a crucial aspect, it is not the degree I have come to understand through reading the chapter. There is profound value in how medical practitioners behave, show concern, talk to the patient, and deliver information with care of lack thereof affect the patient’s recovery process. The patient’s recovery process is based on the connection between psychological conceptualization of oneself and perceptions towards the disease or illness. The mind, emotions, and perceptions towards the disease impact extensively to overall reaction of feeling good and getting healthy.
The reading of Chapter eleven enlighten through the connection of science to medical practices and their impact on the state of patient’s cure process. In page 166 of Goleman’s book, in a study conducted by Robert Ader, a psychologist illustrates the significance in the connection between the body and the mind in medical practices (Goleman, 1996). in his finding, Ader “discovered that the immune system, like the brain, could learn.” Previous knowledge held that, only the central nervous system (CNS) and the brain could respond to experiences by changing how they behave (Goleman, 1996). This enhances the conception that the mind, emotions, and the body to be interconnected.
Therefore, it was surprising to affirm the value of emotions in the state of health of an individual. It was not shocking to learn the role toxic emotions plays in the deterioration of an individual’s health (Goleman, 1996, 168). Instead, it is integral to be cautious in how we handle emotions in the medical practices in order to ascertain maximum effectiveness.
