Great things await us!

I hurried to the hospital to visit my good friend, a well-known literary critic, before a serious operation was coming to him the next day. I was sure that he was very worried — and who would not be worried about a life-threatening intervention? — and knew that such unrest often slowed down recovery. Against the background of anxiety and depression, wounds heal worse and the work of all organs is poorly restored. And I thought, how would I, without traumatizing, bring a friend to a frank discussion of his concerns and help to cope with them. As a psychotherapist, I had to make it easy and graceful, but with loved ones it is always more difficult than with clients. I was worried — both for the outcome of the upcoming procedure, and for the success of my (my own chosen) mission.

But I worried in vain. As soon as I entered, my friend spoke to me very animatedly and frankly — not about the upcoming operation, but about his plans after the operation, about the book that he had begun to write … With great inspiration and brilliance inherent in him, he spoke about his plan. It was obvious that this was not an attempt to distract from frightening thoughts and not an attempt to calm me down. No, it was a sincere passion for their own ideas and plans. He mentioned the surgery briefly: “I’ll have the operation, I’ll be discharged, and then …” — as if he knew for sure that it would be successful. He really captivated me with his story, we talked for a couple of hours … and I left the hospital reassured. Both the surgery itself and the postoperative period went well. Soon after discharge, he was already working and did not remember all this. A few years later, at an international conference, I heard a report on the impact of preoperative preparation on the condition of patients after surgery. The preparation included the use of tranquilizers and various psychological relaxation techniques. As one would expect, it worked well for most of the patients. But the authors were surprised to single out a rather small group of patients in whom, after relaxation sessions, the postoperative period was even more difficult than in the control group. I remembered my friend. I imagined how a «successful» preoperative preparation, instead of removing the already absent harmful tension, would reduce his state of creative inspiration, cause apathy and lower immunity. Not all people react the same way to upcoming stress: even when the situation objectively looks difficult, subjectively it can be perceived completely differently, and this subjective perception is much more important. High creative activity and life energy closely related to it, a mental “jump” through a difficult period of life beyond a person’s control help to maintain health.