Сommunicative toxicity in medical discourse

The article is devoted to the problem of toxic communication in the medical sphere. Toxicity, as a new phenomenon of communication, is of particular interest in the context of increased attention of researchers to the pragmatic side of spoken interaction. The purpose of this work was to study the communicative toxicity that occurs in situations of contact between medical personnel, patients and their relatives. Toxic communicative behavior in this area can lead to harmful consequences of treatment, the emergence of iatrogenic diseases, and an increase in distrust of medical professionals. The research is relevant not only because of the theoretical immaturity of the issue, but also because it is of great practical importance for the medical care system. The empirical basis of the article was made up of reviews published on the Internet by people who asked for help at one of the hospitals in the Leningrad region. The authors of the paper tried to handle and systematize the selected material taking into account its communicative-pragmatic and linguistic features. As a result, the main strategies and tactics of toxic communication in medical discourse, as well as the linguistic means implementing them, were identified