• DOI:10.1038/ajg.2010.466
• Corpus ID: 37719358

Denial: What Is It, How Do We Recognize It, and What Should We Do About It?

@article{Travis2011DenialWI,
  title={Denial: What Is It, How Do We Recognize It, and What Should We Do About It?},
  author={Anne C. Travis and Swati Pawa and Julia Kim Leblanc and Arvey I. Rogers},
  journal={The American Journal of Gastroenterology},
  year={2011},
  volume={106},
  pages={1028-1030}
}

• A. Travis, S. Pawa, +1 author A. Rogers
• Published 1 June 2011
• Medicine
• The American Journal of Gastroenterology

Many patients experience periods of denial when dealing with illness. The denial may start with the ignoring of symptoms or may manifest as a misremembered discussion with a physician regarding a diagnosis or treatment plan. Denial can delay diagnoses and prevent patients from receiving needed treatment. As physicians, we are sometimes faced with the challenge of working with patients who are unable to move past their denial. However, not all patients who fail to follow our recommendations do so because of denial. Some patients do not understand their illnesses or treatment plans, and others who may appear to be in denial are in fact acting on beliefs or preferences that differ from those of their health-care providers or are struggling with major depression. Complicating things further, more than one mechanism may be at play in a given situation. Our roles include providing our patients with the information they need to understand their illnesses and recognizing patients in states of denial. We also must realize that there are times when denial is an adaptive coping strategy that needs to be respected and not stigmatized. that can be misinterpreted as denial. It is important for physicians to realize that these coping strategies are adaptive and should not be viewed negatively (9).