Helping Others 2

There is published research to support these findings. The pharmaceutical industry, too, is best served by producing drugs which keep the patient coming back for more. All the players seem to be involved in this giant game, and in typical game fashion, turn on those who do not participate.

It seems that the game itself has become the norm. The same thing is true of the scientific community, or any other entrenched elite. This “game” aspect is one of the forces behind institutionalized resistance to a new paradigm These are structural problems which need to be solved if our society is ever to pass meaningful benefits on to patients.

The reward needs to be for a cure, not for keeping patients ill. This structural problem goes hand-in-hand with a game called I’m Only Trying To Help, where many workers involved in treating or assisting others have a vested psychological interest in keeping those they are helping dependent on them.

This fulfils certain ego needs and enables them to bask in feeling how kind and helpful they are. Fortunately this is not true of all, and many employed in this field are genuine in their efforts to help, despite financial and emotional incentives to the contrary.

But there is a significant element which encourages the needy to stay in that condition, even if this is at an unconscious level. Being able to adopt a Parent-Child attitude can carry strong psychological rewards. Of course this pathology may support and be supported by pathological behaviours and psychological rewards which encourage dependency by those in need of help.

But even welfare laws discourage independence. If a person on a grant earns more than a certain small amount, he is no longer eligible for the grant. The problem comes not with the often small sums of money of the grant, but the fact that medical benefits would be lost as well.

(Continued..)