Last week in my OPD, a middle-aged man walked in with uncontrolled diabetes. He wasn’t new to treatment — in fact, he had seen multiple doctors before me. But what struck me was not his sugar levels, it was his fear. He told me, “Doctor saab, I am scared to even eat. I feel one wrong bite will kill me.”

As doctors, we often focus on lab numbers, protocols, and treatment algorithms. But in that moment, I realized his real struggle wasn’t just medical — it was emotional. He needed reassurance as much as he needed insulin titration. I took extra time that day to sit with him, explain the diet in simple words, and even drew a small chart for him to stick on his fridge.

A week later, he came back smiling. His sugars were better, yes, but more importantly, his anxiety had eased. He said, “For the first time, I feel I can live with this disease instead of fighting it every day.”

That reminded me of something I often forget in the rush of practice: sometimes the healing begins not with a prescription, but with listening.