Dr. Kendra Gaines, Editor-in-Chief, IJHC

 The primary concern of the Journal is always health. So it may come as some surprise to see the word “politics” on this editorial page. Do not be concerned; I am not venturing into that swamp of disagreement and all-too-often hostility. Nonetheless, politics is undeniably connected to health, as I have seen for myself on numerous occasions. 

One occasion in particular stays with me. A few years ago, a neighbor of mine would swing by occasionally to collect bamboo from my bamboo garden. He was a clever man and liked to use the discarded bamboo in creative ways in his own garden. But one day he appeared looking absolutely dreadful. He was grey in the face, bent over, and anything but cheerful. I was immediately concerned and asked what had happened. 

“I’ve been listening to the news,” he responded, “and it’s terrible!” 

I asked him how long he had been listening and was appalled when he told me, “Six hours.” 

“Six hours, just today?” I demanded. 

“Yes, of course, because there’s so much going on and I need to be informed.” International Journal of Healing and Caring 2025, 25(2) 1-3 

I “informed” him that it’s one thing to be informed, and quite another to devote so much time to the news—by which he meant politics—that he was making himself ill. I asked him what his intense devotion to the news had accomplished. Had anything changed? Had any of the multiple problems been resolved? Of course not! So why, I wanted to know, was he making himself sick over something that he could neither control nor change? That stopped him cold. But he began to think, as I could see, and I hoped for the best as he gathered up his bamboo and departed for home.