What to Say to A Sick Person

Sometimes people visit this site looking for guidance on how to speak with and support someone they love, someone who happens to be ill. 

I found this quote recently that reminds us that sometimes, the best thing to say is nothing at all. It is simply important to be there for the person:

When we honestly ask which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness... makes it clear that whatever happens in the external world, being present to each other is what really matters.

--Henri J.M. Nouwen

Other helpful guidance on how to speak with and visit a sick person: 

How do I comfort my sick loved one? from Today Health online. 

The Art of Visiting the Sick: A Practical Guide by Rabbi Bradley Artson, featured on My Jewish Learning.com. This article includes some Jewish terms I am not familiar with, but the tips are easy to understand nonetheless.

What to Say to Someone Who Is Really Sick, from the Ostomy Association of North Central Oklahoma, Ostomy Outlook Newsletter, June 1997.

10 Tips for Visiting Someone Who Is Sick, from Christine at Butyoudontlooksick.com. 

Comments

[Lisa Copen]

I have enjoyed reading your blog. I have your web site linked at our web site at http://restministries.org/life/finances.htm

I'd like to recommend my book Beyond Casseroles: 505 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend as another way to encourage those with illness, beyondcasseroles.com - you can read the first 40 pages for free!

We are also the sponsors of National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week in Sept, which includes a free 5-day virtual conference at www.invisibleillness.com - hope you will join us!
Blessings!