Pain and its management: Dante’s Divine Comedy

2021 ◽  
pp. postgradmedj-2021-140058
Author(s):  
Raffaella Bianucci ◽  
Iacopo Lanini ◽  
Simon Donell ◽  
Donatella Lippi

Dante Alighieri died in 1321; therefore, 2021 is the 700th anniversary of his death. His best known work is the Divine Comedy, which explores Dante’s journey through the three realms of the underworld. Each realm is associated with three different sensations: Inferno, bodily (pain); Purgatorio, acoustic (music); and Paradiso, visual (light). The progression of the painful experiences and the resolution through music and light mirror the modern understanding of pain and its management. Music has both direct and indirect benefits and can help with coping. Sunlight promotes well-being and self-awareness.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7843
Author(s):  
Abd Hair Awang ◽  
Iskandar Zainuddin Rela ◽  
Azlan Abas ◽  
Mohamad Arfan Johari ◽  
Mohammad Effendi Marzuki ◽  
...  

With economically unsustainable metroxylon sagu (sago palms) found in peat lands, small scale farmers are gradually converting their land to oil palm cultivation. Good agriculture practices (GAP) were inculcated to peat land farmers to ensure that the environmental ecosystem is conserved and oil palm productivity is enhanced, along with the farmer’s well-being. The present study examined the effect of GAP on farm performance and the perceived economic well-being of the peat land oil palm farmers. We interviewed randomly selected farmers with assistance from a locally trained native enumerator to complete the survey questionnaire. We conducted partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to incorporate direct and indirect benefits on farmers’ economic well-being to estimate the significance of GAP. The empirical results show that GAP have direct positive effects on farm performance. Such practices lead to significant positive impacts on the economic well-being of peat land oil palm farmers. This solid evidence makes it much easier for small-scale farmers to convert from conventional farming to environmentally friendly farming, and ensures safe and healthy oil palm cultivation.


Author(s):  
Evi Zohar

Continuing the workshop I've given in the WPC Paris (2017), this article elaborates my discussion of the way I interlace Focusing with Differentiation Based Couples Therapy (Megged, 2017) under the systemic view, in order to facilitate processes of change and healing in working with intimate couples. This article presents the theory and rationale of integrating Differentiation (Bowen, 1978; Schnarch, 2009; Megged, 2017) and Focusing (Gendlin, 1981) approaches, and its therapeutic potential in couple's therapy. It is written from the point of view of a practicing professional in order to illustrate the experiential nature and dynamics of the suggested therapeutic path. Differentiation is a key to mutuality. It offers a solution to the central struggle of any long term intimate relationship: balancing two basic life forces - the drive for individuality and the drive for togetherness (Schnarch, 2009). Focusing is a body-oriented process of self-awareness and emotional healing, in which one learns to pay attention to the body and the ‘Felt Sense’, in order to unfold the implicit, keep it in motion at the precise pace it needs for carrying the next step forward (Gendlin, 1996). Combining Focusing and Differentiation perspectives can cultivate the kind of relationship where a conflict can be constructively and successfully held in the inner world of each partner, while taking into consideration the others' well-being. This creates the possibility for two people to build a mutual emotional field, open to changes, permeable and resilient.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1634-1640
Author(s):  
Javad Jafari ◽  
Asra Nassehi ◽  
Mohammadali Zareez ◽  
Seydamalek Dadkhah ◽  
Najmeh Saberi ◽  
...  

Background: Among all aspects of nursing care, the spiritual one is the issue that has received little attention. Having spiritual wellbeing (SWB) is a necessity to provide appropriate spiritual care. In addition to, the Emotional intelligence (EI) is one of the most important factors in social and professional success and is essential for effective nursing practice. Therefore, aim of study was evaluating the Relationship between SWB and EI among nursing students. Methods: The sample of this descriptive-analytic study consisted of 136 nursing students studying at Bam University of Medical Sciences selected by convenience sampling method. The Bradberry and Greaves 28-item EI scale, Palutzian and Ellison SWB Scale were used to assess the total score of EI and SWB. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), Pearson correlation coefficient, independent t-test and one-way ANOVA with SPSS v18. Results: The mean score of SWB and EI were 97.1±11.56 and 123.4 + 123.6, respectively. The mean score dimensions of SWB include (religious wellbeing 47.9±6.6, existential wellbeing 49.1±5.7) and dimensions EI: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management were 27.2 3 3.2, 36.2 2 5.4, 25.1 + 3.5 and 35.1 + 4.5, respectively. The majority of students have reported moderate level SWB and high level of emotional intelligence. The factors influencing their level of SWB were academic semester and age (p<0.05). Conclusion: Although the level of students' EI and SWB were at a desirable level in this study, due to the nature of nursing and the interaction between nurses and patients, providing a suitable learning environment for the development of EI is essential. Therefore, it is suggested that nursing policymakers should develop appropriate educational programs for nurses and provide curriculum for students to promote their knowledge and skills. Keywords: spiritual, religious, wellbeing, existential, nursing, emotional intelligence


2022 ◽  
pp. 019459982110730
Author(s):  
Martha Borraccini ◽  
Matteo Marinini ◽  
Michele Augusto Riva

The anatomic and medical knowledge of people throughout history is unexpectedly evident in some of the poems and texts written by intellectuals of the time. This article attempts to understand the conception of laryngology in the Middle Ages by analyzing the Divine Comedy, written by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) at the beginning of the 14th century. In the text, Dante mentions the throat several times. He recognizes that the larynx has the dual functions of allowing respiration (dead souls recognize that the poet is alive through movement of his throat when breathing) and speech (souls with their throat cut cannot speak). However, Dante does not seem to know of the existence of vocal cords, thinking that it is the tongue that allows for word formation. In general, Dante’s poem indicates that the anatomy and function of the throat were known during the medieval period, although this knowledge was not precise.


Author(s):  
Tatyana Yurievna Ledvanova ◽  
Yulia Borisovna Barylnik ◽  
Natal’a Valer’evna Filippova ◽  
Mariya Nikolaevna Nosova ◽  
Sergey Alekseevich Goryunov

The problem of preventing and reducing the level of occupational morbidity among agricultural workers is of particular importance, since occupational diseases are the cause of high disability and mortality rates of the working-age population all over the world. As a research task, the authors made an attempt to identify the features of the interdependence of the components of self-awareness and conflicts in value orientations for the manifestation of the phenomenology of disorders with further designation of the targets of psychotherapy. An experimental psychological study which included 40 agricultural workers with occupational diseases of the peripheral nervous system (experimental group) and without diseases (control group) was carried out using the multilevel personality questionnaire «Adaptability», the self-attitude test questionnaire by V.V. Stolin and S.R. Panteleev, and Schwartz's methodology «Value orientations». As a result of the study, it was found that in the subjects of the experimental group, in contrast to healthy individuals, the hyposthenic type of response prevails, there is the average level of neuropsychic tension, there is no tendency to reactions of the impulsive type, and a high negative and statistically significant relationship between the indicator of conflict in values and the level of personal adaptive potential is identified. The results of the study indicate that among agricultural workers with occupational diseases of the peripheral nervous system, accentuations of the character of the «inhibited» circle prevail, there is an increased level of anxiety and low tolerance to unfavorable factors of professional activity. The dominant personal values at the level of convictions are personal success in accordance with social standards and enjoyment of life, and at the level of behavior — understanding and protecting the well-being of all people and nature, preserving and increasing the well-being of loved ones. With an increase in conflict in value orientations, the adaptive potential of the respondents decreases, and a decrease in the level of self-attitude entails a decrease in adaptation.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Jo Kreitzer ◽  
Lixin Zhang ◽  
Michelle J. Trotter

Health professionals have jobs that are inherently stressful and most have had little opportunity or encouragement to focus on self-care. Over the past 10 years, professional development programs such as the “Courage to Teach” have been developed for teachers in primary and secondary schools. Reported outcomes include personal and professional growth, increased satisfaction and well-being, and renewed passion and commitment for teaching. Based on this model of transformational professional development, a program was developed for health professionals, the Inner Life Renewal Program. Four cohorts of health professionals have completed the program. This brief report provides descriptive information regarding the structure, format, and process of the program and evaluative data based on program evaluations and participant interviews. Outcomes reported by participants include an increase in self-awareness, improved listening skills and relationships with colleagues, and an increased ability to manage or cope with stress.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria da Piedade Moreira Brandão ◽  
Laura Martins ◽  
Marlena Szewczyczak ◽  
Dorota Talarska ◽  
Ian Philp ◽  
...  

Introduction: According to the OECD, Portugal and Poland rank below average in several well-being measures such as income and wealth, and health status. Investigating how people perceive the threats to health in these two countries, is an important issue to address priority needs. To meet this need, the objective of this paper was to compare the perceptions of the threats to the health and well-being among the Polish and Portuguese older persons and explore differences between the countries in respect of patterns of self-rated health.Material and Methods: A Cross-sectional study with two convenience samples from primary health care services of Poland and Portugal was conducted; 480 adults aged 65 and over (247 Portuguese) were included. The EASYCare standard assessment of 2010 was applied under a joint project of both countries. The association between ‘self-rated unhealthy’ and socio-demographic and threats to health variables was examined using logistic regression.Results: In both countries about two thirds of the older persons self-rated their health as unhealthy. Having more than enough finances was associated with a significant lower odds of being unhealthy compared with those without enough finances at the end of the month (Portugal: OR = 0.25, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.63; Poland: OR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.88). Visual problems, bodily pain, memory loss, feeling bored or lonely and reporting shortness of breath during normal activities was consistently associated with fair or poor self-rated health.Discussion: These findings provide important information regarding the health profile of older people which can help in the development of people-centred health systems where their lives and well-being can be improved. Conclusion: The unhealthy perception of older people was consistently associated with indicators of major health threats.


2010 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 455-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurper Gökhan ◽  
Edward F. Meehan ◽  
Kevin Peters

The value of mindfulness-based methods in an undergraduate field placement was investigated in relation to the acquisition of self-care and other basic clinical competencies. The participants were 22 students in an applied behavioral analysis course, which included a mindfulness-based training module, and 20 students enrolled in an experimental psychology course without mindfulness training. The Mindfulness Attention and Awareness Scale, the Freiberg Mindfulness Inventory, and the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills were used as measurements before and after intervention. Mindfulness-trained participants kept records and were asked to share their personal experiences during supervision and an exit interview. Results demonstrated that training significantly increased mindfulness. Qualitative data indicated enhanced self-care, attention to well-being, self-awareness, active involvement acquiring skills, and empathy and compassion. The need to expand the utility of mindfulness to the realm of education and the importance of including comparison groups with other self-care modules for future studies were discussed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document