By: Nikola Weisman
While medicine holds the power to cure people, care that is delivered with kindness and compassion can speed the healing process and lead to better outcomes for patients. Those who show compassion and offer reassurance can help calm patients, lower blood pressure, and reduce pain. The benefits of compassionate caregiving and support have consistently shown a positive influence in health and the quality of health care. Much of the health care people know is passive help, while the healing process is active.
Compassionate care has been found successful in treating pain, anxiety, and colds. Healing occurs within an individual and this ability to heal can improve with a healthy influence from others, especially in the form of compassion. There is data present that support and compassion from one individual to another can help the passive treatment become more active. Current research demonstrates the link between social support and physical health outcomes, and there are promising results demonstrating how support can positively influence the quality of life in chronic pain patients.
There are 9 primary and powerful benefits of compassion.
First, it reduces suffering and contributes to the well-being of the whole, making the world a better place. It opens your heart, enlarges perspective and identity. Compassion increases your happiness, fulfillment, and wellbeing. It enables you to become better connected and improve social, ecological, and spiritual relationships, inspiring loyalty and commitment.
Compassion can improve your health by strengthening your immune system, normalizing blood pressure, and lowering stress. It can help you better understand yourself, others, and increase possibilities for peace. Compassion is contagious and spreads outwards. As the patient, make sure to surround yourself with people who can offer compassion and support because medicine has proven time and again that it will help improve health and reduce pain.