Did you see this article about patients who don’t like it when their doctors share? I think it’s a flawed study.
These were actors who weren’t really there about a health condition in the first place so were their reactions really valid? Based on my own experience, particularly my experience with Michelle and the doctor she really loved, I’d have to say no.
When I took Michelle in to talk to her doctor about painful menstruation which included vomiting and exhaustion, she talked to her doctor about trying to use hormonal birth control to level out her hormones and hopefully reduce the pain and vomiting. Michelle was not sure which form she wanted to try – I had given her my suggestions, which she did not agree with. She mentioned my suggestion and her reasons for not wanting to take my advice and her doctor shared a very similar personal story – he had advised his own daughter in the same why I had advised Michelle – and his own daughter refused his advice, tried one form of hormonal birth control and then a second – but still has not taken his advice. Based on this personal story, Michelle felt like her doctor was really listening to her and would understand her reasons and respect her reasons for making the choice that she made. If this doctor had not relayed this story, I don’t think Michelle would have walked out of the office feeling as good about her decision.
Maybe doctors who ramble on and on about stuff a patient isn’t interested in aren’t bonding – but doctors who do share helpful and applicable personal stories are the kind of doctors Michelle likes.
fasttimes.wordpress.com 
I haven’t posted this on my blog yet, but yesterday I ended up at my primary care doctor. She was very kind about the problem, and shared a personal experience with me. I think she normalized my reaction to a serious problem we have to get to the bottom of, and conveyed the seriousness, but also the fact that this is probably treatable. Her personal comments helped me feel at ease.
I realized she does understand chronic pain, and its medications, and was really listening. Simple things, like when she felt my thioroid (sp?) and asked me to swallow which I couldn’t do due to dry mouth, she said things like “I know that’s hard to do, Amitriptyline gives horrible drymouth.” I wasn’t just another to-do item to get checked off on her list, she did want to get to the bottom of the problem. She wasn’t going to say “you don’t need these drugs now because of…” She understood, and made it clear that she does actually really understand from personal experience.
Personal eperience turned a scary day into a scary day with hope that we can fix whatever’s wrong.