For Siegel, it is important to view sickness as an opportunity to learn. He has studied patients who survive a serious illness, observing how they live longer than their doctors expect. He says these are usually people who notice their feeling sand are able to accept them. A serious illness may, for example, make a patient feel angry about having wasted years doing a job that now seems meaningless. Some patients might never face these feelings. By not icing their feelings and expressing their, emotions, he says, patients are able to make wise choices with regard to their treatment. Patients need to be encouraged to accept and enjoy being themselves more than they could before they became sick. They can start to repair relationships with people they are close to. They can become more aware of something deep within themselves. This new approach to life that has come from their sickness then begins to bring benefits to their bodies, and they are often able, to an important extent, to heal themselves.