When youth is in full swing and the body does not remind of itself, communication between people is filled with life and pleasant impressions. But as soon as you cross the thirty-year threshold, the leadership is given to ailments.
They are talked about everywhere: on walks, at work, during celebrations and in a close family circle. It would seem that one can get a lot of useful information from such information.
But few people know that shifting illnesses is a dangerous business, says clinical psychologist of the “Clinic of Doctor Anikina”, author of the Zen channel “Ecological Psychologist” Stanislav Sambursky .
What is disease shifting?
Empathy plays a key role in this process. During evolution, higher primates, and then humans, learned to sympathize with their neighbors. For example, if a lower mammal gets into trouble, its relatives do not have an impulse to help each other, while higher primates will not leave the poor fellow to the mercy of fate.
A person is endowed with empathy, so he is able to feel the pain of another. When the idea of this pain becomes too vivid, then "shifting" occurs.
Characteristic features of the phenomenon
It is worth listing the signs of this process.
- In a normal situation, people talk about, for example, how they have a fever, a sore throat, and a stuffy nose - a standard set of phrases. But if the description of a common cold is accompanied by heartbreaking details, then the interlocutor will involuntarily feel the weight of the torment experienced.
- Too many emotions combined with the unbearable situation: complaints about the healthcare system, doctors, loved ones who did not support at the right moment, etc. Whether intentionally or not, the interlocutor is immersed in a hyperbolic story and feels the injustice of a cruel world.
- Impossibility to avoid conversation. For example, a live queue. A visit to any government agency for a certificate can result in "shifting the illness." A live queue does not give the right to avoid conversation with others, so you have to listen about the ailments of a person you see for the first and last time.
- A conversation about the consequences and complications of a past illness. Let's say a person has caught the flu, is lying down and suffering. The symptoms of the disease are severe, you want to call a friend and share this torment with him. The story about a runny nose and unbearable cough suddenly begins to be accompanied by scary theories: "What if the flu causes complications in the kidneys, liver, ears, etc. Can you imagine what awaits me?" Naturally, the interlocutor feels compassion and worry.
- But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The horror begins when the theory of the incurability of the disease, disability and other terrible things come into play. All this is accompanied by lamentations and thoughts of imminent death.
Conversations in this vein are physically draining, and leave you feeling empty. This is how "shifting the disease" manifests itself. The only way to protect yourself is to avoid such conversations or change the subject.
When a stranger is involved in "shifting the illness," you can demonstratively open a book, look at your phone, or put in headphones. His offense is none of your business.
When it comes from co-workers, relatives or friends, it is worth changing the subject. But to start with, you can say a banal phrase: "Everything will be fine! Get well soon!"
