Health and Wellness for Physicians
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Physician Well Being Alert
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As the title implies, stress is everywhere. And no profession has experienced it more acutely during the past year than physicians on the front lines.
But even before the pandemic, physicians toiled in one of the most stressful of occupations, and the impact on their health, happiness, and performance is well-documented, including its contribution to rampant physician burnout.
So, if stress is everywhere and can’t be avoided, how can physicians learn to systematically deal with it all?
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A simple and clever acronym provides many of the answers:
“LEARN”
(source unknown)
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Laughter (and playfulness) have been grossly under-estimated in the science of human behavior. It has only been within the last two decades that we have come to appreciate their value and importance, in fact, the need for positive emotions as psychological nutrients.
You may remember Norman Cousins. He wrote “Autonomy of an Illness,” and focused on hope and laughter as actually curative for him.
And since his book was written, a significant amount of research data has demonstrated that positive emotions literally “broaden and build” our ability to resist and bounce back from stress-related challenges. In fact, as reported in our previous Email Alert, physicians who regularly experience more positive emotions actually have fewer colds, inflammation, chest pain, and other stress-related conditions!
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Exercise: Have you ever heard the phrase “exercise is medicine.” You should, because even walking 180 minutes per week, 30 minutes a day, provides roughly the protective equivalent of stopping smoking! In addition, regular exercise has been demonstrated to provide significant mood boosts, even when compared to antidepressant medications.
So, in a very real sense, regular exercise is a “small difference that can make all the difference” in your stress management repertoire.
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Attitude: Of all the components of “LEARN”, this one is one of most important. A stress-hardy “mindset” is absolutely crucial to higher health, happiness, and personal flourishing.
Research has shown that realistic “optimism” can literally lead to increased life expectancy, not to mention peace of mind, that is measured in terms of years.
The trick seems to be that, when faced with adversity, optimistic physicians interpret their circumstances as temporary, limited in scope, and not their (or anyone else’s) fault necessarily.
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The next letter, R, stands for Relaxation. You’ve probably seen reference to all kinds of articles touting the importance of “mindfulness” and other forms of autonomic self-calming. In fact, it’s almost has become a bit “faddish.”
But the facts of reality are significant. Practicing autonomic self-regulation on a regular basis, even for as little as 5-10 minutes per day, can actually help reverse the effects of life stress, and affect you at the cellular/telomeric level!
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And of course, N stands for Nutrition. If exercise is medicine, then “food is fuel.” You’ve heard the phrase, “You are what you eat.” There is no doubt that our eating habits play a vital role in providing the essential material nutrients we require to sustain the highest levels of functioning, and cope with the inevitable strain associated with the daily practice of medicine.
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ACTION STEPS:
- Review every letter listed above. Rate yourself on a 1-10 scale, with 10 meaning functioning at your highest levels.
- Take your lowest two self-ratings and make a plan, this week, to begin taking small actionable steps to improve your life in each domain.
- Take any scores below a 7 very seriously, and begin to make small corrective steps over the next three months.
Remember, the stress of medical practice isn’t going anywhere, and nothing of lasting value is ever accomplished without insight/knowledge combined with regular practice. You know these things. You’ve been recommending them to others forever. Now it may be time for you to begin taking positive steps to boost your own health, happiness, and higher performance.
Get started today!
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Check out our prior newsletters addressing stress!
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