The idea of «archaeology of perception» in the process of trust creation between patient and physician

An interaction between a patient and a physician is refracted through trust. Ancient Greek philosophers considered self-care through metaphorical objects: dreams and their interpretation, revision, mirror, etc. In the Age of Enlightenment trust becomes a certain kind of economic characteristic that measures an attitude to a person and shapes an idea of him. In the moral context, the phenomenon of trust is presented through sympathy - «social lubrication» (A. Smith), which promotes development of the feeling of brotherhood and brings semantic changes to the definition of personal space. In philosophy of 20th century, in works of P. Sztompka, A. Giddens, M. Foucault, A. Seligman, trust receives a different interpretation: the philosophers define it through ethical behavior, try to differentiate trust from synonyms such as confidence, belief. The social function of trust comes to the medical field of relationships between a patient and a physician. Social interaction between them includes verbal and nonverbal communication (the article attempts to explain trust through the latter). In the process, the patient expects certain words to be said by the physician and/or takes a certain line of behavior, choosing either to trust or not to trust the doctor. The physician’s behavior determines the patient’s attitude to him. The patient watches the actions of the physician, giving him a certain inner estimate. In the process of communication, their relationship transfers from the paternalistic to the collegial model (according to R. Witch’s conception). Through medical examination (professional or superficial) the physician constructs a picture of the disease and, as a result, either satisfies or not satisfies the patient’s expectations. Through juxtaposition of the external and the inner there are manifested components of the patient’s self-care: social practices (e.g. observation and/or detection of symptoms by the physician) in individual human existence (E.B. Bolotnikova).