NOV 15 — We need to be the change we wish to see in the world. — Mahatma Gandhi

One day a patient walked into the clinic and sat down heavily on the nearest chair. “I have chest pains,” he said. “And it is affecting my quality of life.”

His notes said that his name is Malaysia, and he is 54 years old. His does many things in his job. He provides land for people to build homes on, has a unique history and culture; and most importantly, he promised his people they would grow and prosper. But he is so weak that he can’t do that now.

They lay him down on the examination table, and the first doctor, Understanding, asked him about the timing of his pain. When does it happen? Malaysia told Dr Understanding that the pain happens usually when there are arguments among the people who live on his land. He said that people argued a lot more, for less, nowadays compared to when he was growing up. Sometimes he would go several weeks and months with the pain in his chest not subsiding, because someone was always arguing about something, somewhere.

Dr Understanding was able to explain that the reason he got pain when people argued was because he was being torn between different opinions. The pain came from the splitting of his heart as he tried to support all his people equally.

The second doctor to see Malaysia was Dr Equality. Dr Equality asked him if he experienced any other problems apart from his chest pain. Malaysia thought for a moment and said that he could not be sure. Dr Equality pointed out that Malaysia had neglected to mention an ulcer on his leg, which was very big. It must have been growing for some time. Malaysia was surprised to see it, saying that he had not noticed it at all before this.

Dr Equality told Malaysia that because his chest pain was in the forefront of his mind so often, he neglected to look after himself in other ways. So much so that he did not even notice his leg ulcer, so he had not done anything to take care of it. Malaysia was getting quite upset at this point.

The next doctor was Dr Progress. Dr Progress asked him about the character of his pain. What kind of pain was it? Malaysia told him that the pain was a tight, clenching pain at times, and a subtle dull ache at others. He said the worst stabbing pains came when people tried to divide him up into smaller pieces, and then stretch him at different rates.

Dr Progress nodded gravely and said that the stabbing pains came because he was being made to grow at different rates, at different places, in different ways, all at once. Because the lines of separation that they had drawn up were so severe, the pain happened because nobody was willing to cross the borders to lend help to other less able parts.

All three doctors agreed that Malaysia was very unwell. They looked over their notes, they took blood, and they tried giving him medicine. Malaysia was very depressed when he heard that he had so many things wrong with him. He asked the doctors: “What is the point of living when things are so bleak and my life is so depressing?” None of them could give him an answer, and his condition slowly deteriorated.

One morning Dr Hope, one of the doctors who had thus far not said much to Malaysia, wandered into Malaysia’s hospital room. He sat down and had a long talk with Malaysia. He found out that the reason why Malaysia hadn’t felt well enough to leave the hospital was that he was afraid of what awaited him in the world outside.

During the course of his illness, Malaysia discovered some things about himself that he wished he hadn’t. There were big problems to solve, many things to consider, and a lot of changes to be made. He broke down and admitted all of this to Dr Hope.

Dr Hope did not need to give any explanation. He sat down and listened. After several hours of talking, Malaysia finally wound up by repeating his question about the point of living. To that, Dr Hope said very simply: “The difference between the person you were when you came in and the person you will be when you go out is that you’ve managed to figure out where the problems lie and you can now work on fixing them. Your future is your own, but the only way you can recover is to stand up and walk out of this hospital with this goal in mind. There’s still a big chance you can turn things around. You just have to be honest to yourself about what needs to be done and move forward.” After the doctor left, Malaysia closed his eyes and had the first good night’s sleep he had had in a very long time. The next morning, he walked out of the hospital into the sunshine.

* Angeline Lee is a medical undergraduate at the University of Bristol.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.