Managing Stress - Nova Scotia Health Authority
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Transcript Managing Stress - Nova Scotia Health Authority
Dr. Carolyn Thomson
Professional Support Program,
Doctors Nova Scotia
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To identify key areas of stress in a physician’s life and
understand its effect on performance
To understand the influence of the physician personality
on the interpretation of potentially stressful events
To discuss the warning signs of burnout
To identify and develop tools to manage stress and
enhance resilience
To appreciate key components of life balance and develop
skills to enhance it
No
affiliation with industry
“I am more and more convinced that
our happiness or unhappiness
depends more on the way we meet the
events of life than on the nature of
those events themselves”
Alexander Humboldt
The Royal College values physician
wellness: CANMEDS Professional Role:
“Physicians’ maintenance of their own
health and well-being is an essential
component of their professional role.”
CanMEDS Physician Health Guide, 2009
When
did you first feel drawn to
medicine?
What did it feel like?
Has that feeling grown or diminished
over time?
How does your life in clinical practice
differ from your expectations upon
entering medical school?
> 90% of physicians report good health
Majority comply with Canadian personal health screening
guidelines, but:
Only 57% report good work-life balance
25% have chronic physical or mental health
condition that impacts their ability to work as
they otherwise would
>60% will work when ill
8,000 practicing physicians revealed that:
23% of physicians feel depressed
33% admit their work day causes stress
60% have so much work that it prevents them from
pursuing personal and family interests
Canadian Physician Health Survey 2008
4,501
female physicians surveyed
31%
would not choose to be a
physician again
38%
would prefer to change their
specialty
• Erica Frank et al, Arch Inter Med. 1999; 159: 1417 - 1426
Lack
of work control
o Those with unpredictable hours had more stress
o Those with an unhappy practice environment had
more stress
Work
stress
o 44% reported working too much
Home
stress
Lack of religious or spiritual life
Fewer children
o Those with an imbalance between family and home
had more stress
2144
physicians surveyed, aged 35-54
What decreased stress & increased
work satisfaction:
o Participation in community activities
o Leadership roles & control
o Collegial support
o Factors Explaining Career Satisfaction Among Psychiatrists and Surgeons in
Canada, Rein Lepnurm, DrPH, Roy Dobson, PhD, Allen Backman, PhD,
David Keegan, MD, Canadian J Psychiatry, March 2006
Do
you experience joy in your
work?
Do others experience joy as a
result of your work?
Controllable
hours
Balance between family and work
life
Less stress
Income that equals our effort
Fun!
Love
Health
care reimbursement?
Hospital administration?
Colleagues?
Families?
Patients?
Ourselves?
We
Are:
o Intelligent
o Caring
o Sensitive
o Inquisitive
Type
A
Competitive
Perfectionistic
Safety seeking
Developing an ability
to emotionally
dissociate because…
“A physician in
training sees more
trauma in one month
that most others see
in a lifetime.”
Exhausted
Isolated
from
friends and
family
In debt
Ego-centric
as an
expression of
insecurity
Emotionally
dissociated
Emotional
fatigue
Stress
Resentment
Stress: How the body reacts to a stressor,
real or imagined
Stressor: Anything external that knocks the
body out of homeostasis forcing the body
to take action
Eustress: Where stress enhances function
(physical or mental)
Distress: Persistent stress that is not
resolved through coping or adaptation
Increased physical problems & illness
Increased problems with relationships
Increased negative thoughts & feelings
Increased unhealthy behaviours
Inability to continue pushing oneself
Directly linked
Heart
disease
Stroke
Injury
Suicide
Homicide
Indirectly linked
Cancer
Chronic
liver
disease
Emphysema
Chronic bronchitis
Disruptive
behaviours
Intimidation/harassment at work
Difficult interactions with patients
and colleagues
Unexpected outcomes – error,
complaint, litigation
Personal health issues
#1 Cause of stress:
sense of lack of control
#1 Solution:
Challenge this perception
Sense of self arises from experiences we had as a
child
Draw conclusions (often concrete) based on how we
were treated
Not reality but perception of reality
History is the “ultimate” distortion and concrete
thinking persists
10% of your reaction is due to that
particular situation
90%
is what you automatically assume
from past experience (your “historian”).
Event
+ Response = Outcome
o Eliminate the cause
o Change our perception of the stress
What you can change
Perceptions of ourselves and the
situation
Recognise learned behaviours and
assumptions that do not help us
Attain a +ve attitude
Become more assertive and set
limits and boundaries
More confident at reaching out and
connecting with others
ID aspects that we value in all parts
of our lives- work, relationships,
family, home, self- and decide what
we are going to do to maintain these
priorities
What you can’t change
Parents
Childhood experiences
Upbringing
Genetics
Dwelling
on a single negative detail
If you made an error with a patient this
will override all the good things you’ve
done with and for that individual
If you do something embarrassing an
entire experience can be ruined
This can negate the benefit of a great
relationship or life experience
Of
cognitive distortions
oAll or nothing thinking
Perfectionism
o“Anything worth doing is worth
doing half-assed”
• Rachael Naomi Remen
Lower
catecholamines
Lower cortisol
Enhance cortical function
Meditation
Yoga
Tai
Chi
Prayer
Exercise
Hobbies
Yankee Rose
Common
cause of early retirement
Job dissatisfaction
Poor working relationships
Mayo Clinic:
Almost half of American physicians are
emotionally exhausted, suffering from
depersonalization, and struggling with a low
sense of personal accomplishment
Shanafelt, T et al. Arch Intern Med
Top three:
Emergency physicians
General Internal Medicine
Family Physicians
“Gradual erosion of the person”
Emotional
Exhaustion
Depersonalization
Loss of professional satisfaction
Are you at risk?
We
lose perspective and blame others
We judge others harshly
We begin to externalize our frustrations and feel
bad about it
Our type A tendencies are running at max
We become hyper-irritable
Our personal lives crash
We hit survival mode
o Numbness
o Loss of creativity
o Reflex behaviors predominate
Burnout is easier
to prevent than
to treat
Commitment,
self-efficacy,
resourcefulness and hope
May have to address at organizational
level
Cognitive – behavioural strategies
Exhaustion more easily treated
The “3R” Approach:
Recognize
Reverse
Resilience
Why do some people cope better than others?
American Psychological Association:
“The ability to adapt well in the face of adversity,
trauma, tragedy, threats and from sources of stress
such as work pressures, health, family and
relationship problems.”
The ability to bounce back
Optimism
& hope
Confidence
Learn lessons from experience
Assume things will work out well
Focus on learning and coping rather than
blaming and being a victim
If you don’t design your own life
plan, chances are you fall into
someone else’s plan. And guess
what they have planned for you?
Not much.
Mental
Physical
Emotional
Spiritual
•
Physical capacity
o Builds endurance and promotes
mental and physical recovery
•
Emotional capacity
o Creates the internal climate that
drives performance
•
Mental capacity
o Focuses mental and emotional
energy on the task at hand
•
Spiritual capacity
o Provides powerful source of
motivation, determination
and endurance
I’ll
exercise for one hour a day
Then, I’ll tell all my friends and family
that I love them
Maybe I’ll call then while I’m on the
treadmill
Then, I’ll pray for 30 minutes, meditate
for 20 minutes and read the literature
for an hour
Spiritual
Mental
Emotional
Physical
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify personal and professional values and priorities
Enhance areas of work that are most personally
meaningful
Identify and nurture personal wellness strategies that are
important to you
Self care
Hobbies and personal interests
Shanafelt, TD. J Support Oncol 2005;3(2):157-62
Identify
the things that bring you joy
and do more of them
Identify the things that drain you
and do less of them
Make choices about what you can
and can’t do
General Health:
o www.Ephysicianhealth.com
o CanMeds Physician Health Guide: A Practical Handbook for
Physician Health and Well-Being
• Puddester, Flynn, Cohen
• Available on line
The Resilient Physician
o Sotile and Sotile
Finding Balance in a Medical Life
o Lipsenthal
Family, friend or colleague you can trust – find one!
Family Physician-get one
Provincial Physician Health Program
o Listed with contact information on CMA.ca wesite
Substance Use Concerns:
o AA, NA
CMPA Physician Wellness Resources
o http://www.cmpa-acpm.ca