The process of dehumanization in care professions

Caregivers are forced to practice their profession in a way that goes against what they chose it for: out of love for the Other. 

The current health system forces us to mistreat other human beings (e.g. by only serving them half a meal, giving them only a brief wash, depriving them of quality relationship time, etc.) making them feel our urgency and the weight of their dependence.

A natural defense process is then often triggered in suffering caregivers: it begins with detachment, desensitization, up to total dehumanization: the patient/resident/beneficiary/client is no longer considered a human being but as a task to be performed.

Teams are reduced while anxiolytics and sedatives of all kinds are dispensed. The pill now replaces human relationships. I witnessed terrible things, came home in tears so many times, feeling helpless in the face of the injustice of certain situations, and then, one day, while I was treating a patient I had a shock: I had been there for 10 minutes and I didn’t even remember if I had said hello to him. The robotization process had begun.

I had the lucidity to observe it, and above all the luck to be able to take a long break, then return to this job in Switzerland, where I now live, to love it again.

I have become the pro of “suggestion forms” at my job, and if they are slow to respond, I harass them.

Being invested in my work, giving meaning to what I do, wanting to improve the system and at the same time accepting that it is what it is, as fucked-up as it may be.

This is the way I found to maintain my humanity and my sanity.