Between 300-400 doctors commit suicide every year…
…and 25% reported feeling depressed and 9% say they’ve experienced suicidal thoughts according to Medscape’s Physician Suicide Report 2023.
Why a physician suicide report exists…is disturbing alone (yet I digress)…
Just because you’re a doctor doesn’t mean you have your life together.
Look around at a hospital or medical clinic most of the staff are not the example of health.
It’s not their fault – look at the environment.
Some of my closest friends work “in the system”.
One of them is in labor and delivery.
Most of the time she is so busy on her floor she has trouble getting in meals while on shift.
Sweet treats brought in by patient’s families is often fuel to keep her going.
The rules of 15 minute breaks every 4 hours of work – totally out the window in healthcare (and a lot of other employment situations from what I hear).
My cardio-thoracic surgeon friend – found long hours of fasting to be ideal to suit his situation.
Running to the hospital cafeteria is an easy option yet the food quality sucks.
Even docs like myself in private practice can struggle to meet basic needs on a busy day if we don’t hold strong to our boundaries of self care.
I recently interviewed Dr. Greg Hammer, MD a retired professor from Stanford University’s school of medicine, a pediatric intensive care physician and anesthesiologist who’s mission is to help prevent burnout in physicians and adults.
Dr. Greg has an interesting perspective on reversing burnout using his GAIN Method where he incorporates Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention and Non-Judgement into a meditation practice to help build resilience to life’s stress.
The cool thing about Dr. Greg’s method is you only need a few minutes a day to practice it!
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In our interview he talks all about human wiring to be negative and always be on the look out for worst case scenarios.
Perfect for 150,000 years ago to keep you from being eaten by a sabertooth tiger not so ideal for the modern world.
Once you see the negativity in the comments either you make or those around you – you realize how true this is…
…and it gets you thinking – ok how can I not feed off the negative energy from those around me?
How can I not get into a downward spiral of flowing negative thoughts?
What I’ve found to be true about burnout and fatigue is that it’s a sum of how you’re living life, how you choose to show up and the people you choose to hang around.
Dr. Greg makes an interesting point of being discerning when it comes to your judgement of who you are going to spend your time with on a regular basis.
Likely you’ve heard you’re a sum of the 5 people you spend your most time with…well – what are those 5 people like?
Being hard-wired to belong and be part of a tribe it’s hard to break ties and find like minded good vibe folks.
I believe this is why so many people struggle to find true happiness in a world that’s programmed to be negative.
Spend a minute watching the news and unless you catch it on a rare heart warming story you’re going to feel some kind of negative feeling after watching it.
What’s the solution – take a hard look at everything you interact with from people to places and the media you consume.
Even the health space can be quite a downer when you’re searching for solutions to your health issues or a mystery illness.
What if you chose to follow and interact with good vibes only?
Sure when you venture out into society you will find negative folks but what if you acknowledged them and quickly moved on to better energy?
I know I talk all the time about you being an energetic being and here’s another reminder…
…negative people drain your batteries so if you’re hanging out with negative folks…this could be why you’re so tired.
If you’re focusing on worst case scenarios, jumping in on conversations to complain and not in active search of what makes you feel good in life then it’s likely your battery is being drained by this behavior.
What if I told you…
…you have the potential to increase your energy just by making the choice to seek out people that aren’t stuck on complaining, people that have positive outlooks and look for the bright side of life?
And what if changing how you perceive things could be the difference between fatigue and feeling energized?
It’s possible.
Test this out – for every negative thought that pops up in your brain ask yourself – “how could I see the upside of this?”
I’m not asking you to be a “Suzy Sunshine” here (no offense Suzies out there)…I’m asking you to see if it’s possible to think about the things that get you downward spiraling differently.
Try this every day for a week.
I guarantee you’ll feel different.
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It won’t be limitless energy status but you will feel better.
How do I know this to be true?
It’s what has me here today emailing you.
A few years ago I wanted to give up on my practice and the entire medical system.
Suspecting the only solution to burnout was to find another profession.
Then a chance encounter with Veronique Mead led me down a path of exploring the vagus nerve and stress responses. (listen in to Ep 183 – HERE)
I now realize burnout isn’t the end, it’s a realization, a sign that it’s time to change how you’ve been living and thinking.
If you’re struggling with burnout in any profession, when it comes to a health condition or just in life in general hang around – I’ve got lots more to share.
My podcast with Dr. Greg Hammer is a place to start – Ep 496 – listen HERE.
And if you do try out my seeing the upside experiment for a week – hit reply and let me know how it goes.
Here’s to your mental health,
Dr. J
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PS: My free masterclass on “Aging Well with Peptides” is tomorrow Aug 22nd at 5:30p PST – RSVP now to get the replay if you can’t make it live.
PPS: My pal Ali Shapiro has her “Why Am I Eating This Now” 12 week live masterclass coming up in Sept 12th – $100 off with code “Jannine” – if you’re up for diving into the emotions driving your emotional eating – take a look at her site – more details on a free masterclass coming soon.
