Are You A “Good” Patient?
I think the most underemphasized aspect of modern medicine is the conversation of people acting as good patients vs. bad patients. As you learn more about the phenomenon of the patient/practitioner relationship, you begin to understand that it is often times critical to relinquish control, learn to trust again, and allow others to truly help you…
Here’s a classic list of qualities contrasting Good Patients vs. Bad Patients.
Which list describes you??
(let’s start with the positives…)
“Good” Patients:
1) From Day 1, they assume their Doctor has the ability to help them.
2) They assume their Doctor has seen similar cases to them and that their case is not ultra-special
3) Good patients are able to open their heart and trust another human being. They realize that being burnt in the past has no connection to their new, chosen practitioner.
4) They can ask detailed questions about their case without letting emotion and frustration cloud the detail of the ongoing healing work.
5) They are hungry for treatment details.
6) Good Patients know that treatable conditions are always treatable. They realize it is just a matter of finding the correct path, the best weaponry, and the best suited practitioner.
“Bad” Patients: (Keep in mind that good people are often times “bad” patients)
1) From Day 1, they assume their doctor does not understand their condition. They will go through the motions despite the belief that their treatment has a low probability of success.
2) Bad patients believe their case is very special and has never been seen before by the global medical community.
3) Bad patients Do Not Trust their practitioner and furthermore, do not believe there is a need to trust. They do not see the importance of the patient/practitioner relationship and usually view their interaction with their doctor in a manner similar to buying merchandise.
4) Bad patients allow frustration and emotional reactivity to cloud all the details of the healing process. They can’t listen in a detailed fashion because of their strained emotional reactions. They can’t ask detailed questions either because their focus is stuck on their own frustration rather then the detailed plan to get better.
5) They are not hungry or interested in any further treatment details and begin to assume they know exactly what their practitioner is going to say. They become self-made experts and develop a deep belief that they know it all. From this vantage point, it becomes very easy for them to create a mistaken logical conclusion: ”If I know it all and I’m still not better, then my special case must be untreatable” (This quote describes the classic development of mistaken pessimism.)
6) Bad patients believe people are out to get them. Their paranoia actually creates a wall that pushes new people away that otherwise could have helped them. Their tangible paranoia becomes infectious and people naturally do not trust them. As the mutual disrespect builds, they find themselves in other negative situations and conclude that they were right in the idea that people are not to be trusted. (They fail to realize that their negative attitude is what creates and attracts negative experiences in their life)
Think about this….., chronic acne is known to be a treatable condition in every textbook around the world. If someone is living with chronic inflammation of their face or body, could it be that their inability to repeatedly ask for help is the root cause of the chronic failure??
Ask the question, review the details of what makes a good patient vs. a bad patient. If you decide you are, in fact, a good patient…., then your only job is to find a new practitioner with the talent to help your stubborn, treatable case. …And then allow yourself to trust again……
I have made it my life’s mission to help good patients who are still suffering both in the office and online. I will also expend countless amounts of energy trying to teach “bad” patients how to become better patients, allowing others to help them out of this difficult, spiraling situation.
-Dr. Neal
©2008 ”Are You A “Good” Patient” by Dr. Neal Schwartz
February 25th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Dear Dr. Neal,
My name is Pao Vang, I am 27-year-old. I believe I found a cure to my acne and scar after reading and seeing your video. I have acne for a very long time but so fare nothing have work on me. In my heart, i have always believe that somewhere, somehow there has to be a cure for my acne. Please help me Dr. Neal. I have been reaching for too long and I am ready to make a change. I believe you can help me. I believe you can walk me though this hurtful path. Please let me know what I have to do. I would love to travel to New York and see you weekly for my acne and scar, but I can’t afford to fly to New York and under go with the acne treatment at the same time. Plus I just have a baby. Please give me same advices, and let me know what I have to do.
February 25th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
hi Pao,
Sorry to hear of your continued suffering. If you can’t make it to the office, the home version works amazingly well for anyone who knows how to reach out for assistance when needed.
Feel free to email me on the site anytime.
I’ll be here,
-Dr. Neal
August 6th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
I have looked at numerous of your videos, and I am very interested in doing the rebate. I would like more information on exactly it is that I have to do to qualify for this. I have tried it all, from chemical peels ,to supposed ancient remedies, looked and researched almost anything that says will cure acne. I have been struggling for over 10 years. Please help Dr. Neal, I will follow every step and do whatever is asked of me.
August 7th, 2009 at 1:15 am
Hi Dr.Neal, my name is jenny. I have been suffering with cystic acne for about 7 years now. I, like many others, have unfortunately tried many antibiotics, topical creams, and home remedies with no success. Before coming across your website, i had almost given up on dermatologists, medicines and a cure for acne because i have just been on a financial and emotional strain and rollercoaster for so many years with false assistance from professionals but that doesnt mean that there is a miracle somewhere out there for me and i believe it is in your power to cure me and this state of depression i am in and have been in for years now. Please i beg you to help me and i promise that i will do what ever it takes to be able to try your product. i am a full time student with a minimum wage paying job and have spent so much money in treatments that i have even wasted all my savings just on the acne treatments throughout the last years. Trust me, there is nothing more i pray for in this life than for a clear face, i forgot what it feels like. ever since i have lived a very antisocial, alienated life and i am so tired of feeling embarassed, ugly, and depressed. I have total faith and confidence in your words and hard work of your own stuggles with acne. Therefore, i know that you know exactly what im going through so i know your intentions are kind and only to genearate the well being of helpless acne sufferers throughout the world. Thankyou for your years of dedication to finding the right products to cure acne and provide a healthy, happy, stress free, shame free, and prosperous life for those with acne. you have instilled great faith in me and i hope to be able to buy your products as soon as possible but i would appreciate with all my heart if you `can help me to buy it at a more affordable price. Either way, thank you for your time and i hope to be able to be one of your patients that can post videos in the future of my own improvements on my face thanks to you!!! Hope to hear from you very soon, GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!
August 23rd, 2009 at 1:13 am
Dr. Neal,
Hi. How are you doing? I am up at 2am Pacific. I was online and came across your website and thought to myself this is what God had to show me. I have been praying to God to clear my skin for some years now, but I know he works on his own time and he will not give you something until you are ready for it and I believe Im ready because I am here. To actually see someone’s skin just clear up like that is a miracle. Dr. Neal you have been richly blessed with the power of healing. I have suffered from mild acne for 13 years now. I have tried everything on tv to the grocery store to those high dermatologist. Buying things because a celebrity said it worked and then I got it and it breaks me out worse than what I was. I cry myself to sleep sometimes because I literally had to put my dreams on hold because of my acne. I wanted to be and actress but my skin has halted that. I dont wear makeup because it breaks me out even worse so Im stuck with my acne exposed. I have blackheads, whiteheads, eczema, and scars from where Ive popped and squeezed pimples. I have a 10 year old little girl and she asked me “Mama am I gone have bad skin like you. You have all these bumps. Why wont they go away”? That hurts my heart so much because I have tried and tried and tried. I am not able to afford the cost of the program but I will do anything that I need to do to get this product. This is my product. I feel that with all my being. Dr. Neal, you can help me. I am a GOOD PATIENT. I want to finally have that security that comes along with acne free skin. I want to be able to go outside and enjoy myself without worrying about what time I am going back in the house. I want my little girl to look at me and say “I want skin like my mama”!Please Dr. Neal help me. Please. You are my last hope!!!
August 23rd, 2009 at 1:26 am
The acne that I do have is moderate. I have new zits every 2-3 days and break out real bad when its time for my menustral. I have the large zits that have whiteheads and some that are just big red bumps. My cheeks are scarred and are actually darker than the rest of my face. I have like splothches on my face. They look like a bunch of small holes in my face. I dont have cysts or anything like that. My cheeks, chin, forehead and neck are were the acne is. My skin is very oily. Can you please help my situation? I am willing to try anything.
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:07 am
hey Kisha, Jenny and Omar,
you can reach me anytime by the email here.
Talk to you soon,
-Dr. Neal