James Coyne linked to this excellent article by Stephen W. Thrasher about people's stupid suggestions about what his sister (who died of cancer) should have done to cure herself.
Rang lots of bells, including:
Rang lots of bells, including:
Thrasher said:Don’t tell a sick or injured person what they should do, because it’s a sneaky and harmful way of dealing with your own fear of death. You’re saying, tsk tsk – I wouldn’t let this happen to me the way you’ve let it happen to you.
Finally, giving advice to people with cancer blames the sick person for your discomfort with their reality and shifts any accountability you feel back on to them.
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