We are all familiar with the following notions:
That won't happen to me.
Or
That can't happen to me.
It's that sense of invincibility - the false sense of security - feeling removed from, and in denial of, the fact that anything can happen to each and every one of us at any point in time.
Some examples include:
- 'Driving over the speed limit but being absolutely confident that I will not get into a car accident.'
- 'I live in a great neighborhood so no one out here would ever break into my house.'
- 'That dangerous side effect is so rare that I am sure I will not be someone who experiences that side effect.'
- 'I am only parking in front of a fire hydrant for five minutes to check for mail, there's no way a fire emergency crew will need to access this hydrant in the five minutes that I will be parked there'.
These are all pretty general examples, and refer specifically to the thought process of the individual involved...
But what happens when it becomes more of a denial about someone else's experience, because you have been taught that it is rare or extreme or far removed from our society?
What if you are told that one of your friends from childhood or a neighbor or an acquaintance has been struck by lightning?
Your first instinct might be to say: "There's no way! That kind of incident is so rare that it couldn't have happened to so-and-so."
What if you are in school to become a pharmacist, and you have just learned about a symptom that only appears in 0.7% of patients with ______ condition... Then, you meet up with a friend, and you are told that your friend has that illness and experiences that specific, uncommon, and unbelievable symptom? Would you deny that it's possible that you know someone and are maybe even friends with someone who falls in that 0.7%? Would you go as far as to discredit what your friend has been diagnosed with, solely on the basis of an incredulous and uncommon experience?
You could have known someone for your entire life, and after hearing about that person being diagnosed with a rare health condition, you deny and dismiss even the possibility... Only because it seems unlikely... Only, perhaps, because you haven't paid attention and seen any obvious outward signs and symptoms... Only because you feel that it is far too rare for it to have affected someone you are acquainted with...
How would it feel if, say, you are infected with Chicken Pox two years in a row, and people call you a liar because it's so rare? And since it's so rare, there's no way that your friends would believe that it happened to you, right?
Just because something is uncommon or even extremely rare, does not mean that it can't happen to you, a friend, a loved one, a celebrity... It may be shocking, but it should not be dismissed.
Unfortunately, these notions; this way of thinking - can swiftly discredit all of the suffering that a patient has endured.
Anything can happen... To anyone... At any time... At any location.