Abstract
In many consultations with patients, we find it easy to concentrate and work on the task in hand. However, there are occasions when what our patient is saying and doing seems to slip through our minds. In this article, we take an interest in disinterest. Why is it that some clinical encounters hold our attention easily while others leave the clinician in a state of disinterest? We suggest that disinterest isn’t just the absence of something but is more active than that; it can have a power to diminish the quality of contact in the clinical encounter. This can matter for the health and care of the patient. There may be physical factors that might contribute to this dynamic – the patient may experience overwhelming fatigue, for example, leading to a dampening in their usual capacities to express themselves. Equally, the doctor might be tired or burnt out, or environmental factors such as an airless, hot room might contribute to feeling cut off and disinterested. This article focusses on the interpersonal causes of disinterest when these other factors do not predominate.
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