Narrative Medicine in Intensive Care

Narrative Medicine fortifies clinical practice with the narrative competence to interpret the stories of illness. The histories of illness pass through a process of listening and empathic understanding aimed at the therapeutic objective. Storytelling is an inherent behavior in humans. This becomes more important in intensive care where technology often is master of the field. Narrative skills are applied both in the relationship with patients and with family members and colleagues. Narrative Medicine has older origins. It was born in the second half of the 20th century in Scotland where the development of what would have been modern medical semeiotics takes place, Joseph Bell. This is how the medical history, anamnesi, was born. An interview expertly guided to bring out the symptoms of the disease and the disconfort of our patient. History poses the right perspective and help us to understand the distinction between disease and illness.