TARRANT COUNTY PHYSICIAN (19)
March/April 2021
are also several medication and nonmedication
augmentation strategies that
can help you with your mental recovery.
Most importantly, a good psychiatrist can
blend psychiatric medication management
and psychotherapy while empowering you
with skills for self-management over time.
If the body keeps the score of chronic
stress, then the symbiotic relationship
between the mind and body becomes a
critical target for recovery.
● Mind-Body strategies - we all know
the benefits of exercise as a healthy coping
skill to build our mental and physical
fitness. However, when we are exhausted,
the last thing we might want to do is run
laps around the neighborhood with a mask
on. Fortunately, recovery from stress does
not require us to train like an athlete. In
fact, routine, less intense activities, such as
walking a pet, doing the laundry and dishes,
gardening, and washing your car can
be just as effective and give you a sense of
accomplishment. One of the best strategies
to facilitate traumatic release from the
body is to engage in an intentional, slow,
and mindful activity like yoga, which you
can easily access over the internet from
the comfort of your living room.
If you’re suffering from burnover from
another discussion about mindfulness,
you’re not alone. I had similar skepticism
about mindfulness when I first took the
eight-week Mindfulness Based Stress
Reduction (MBSR) course. In fact, around
the third week, I recall being quite frustrated
“with the process of completing the
same body-scan meditation every day
again. And again. And again. Join me
for an hour or more, but I stuck with it.
in the commitment to turn 2021 happy,
Around week six, a sense of calmness
healthy, and mentally fit! If 2020 was the ultimate exercise
came over me. My movements and actions
became more intentional and I felt
less exhausted, without any change in the
rigor of my clinical schedule. My relationship
with nourishment also changed as
I learned to chew my food instead of
my thoughts, which saved me precious
mental energy to devote to other aspects
of my life. When I wavered from this intentionality,
I returned back non-judgmentally
to the task at hand. One of the greatest
misconceptions about mindfulness is that
it helps us fight distressing thoughts. Quite
the contrary, mindfulness allows us to
change our relationship to the distressing
thoughts that are a part of living.
Reimagine “Work”
As physicians, our careers have been
shaped by the expectation of conformity
married to the assumption that resilience
and professionalism are in endless supply,
particularly during a pandemic. Fittingly
then, 2020 has been the ultimate test of
our professional status quo. While the long
hours and medical culture might make it
seem that your personal identity is inextricable
from your professional one, this is
a perfect recipe for burnover. Along with
recalibrating normal, Turning 2021 mentally
fit requires that we reimagine work as
an extension of what we do, rather than
us as an extension of who we are. You are
a person with many gifts, values, dreams,
and talents, and one of them just happens
to be being a hard-working doctor.
This could be a variety of things, including
spirituality, advocacy, mentorship, leadership,
and other activities outside of your
profession. Also, as much as possible,
release yourself from the myth and burden
of multitasking. Focusing on one task at a
time and being mindful of the task at hand
will improve your concentration and help
you to be more mentally fit. Spreading
ourselves thin depletes our battery faster
than working on tasks individually. Like any
of your devices, the more programs you
have running simultaneously, the harder
it is on the system. It is the same for our
body and mind.
Reclaim Joy
Mental fitness is not merely the capacity
to endure, but also the capacity to
recharge. Most of us forget the latter. Take
the time to slow down and explore other
aspects of life that fill your bucket and
keep you mentally fit. Recreation, humor,
daydreaming, connection with nature,
your partner’s touch, and the simple act of
doing absolutely nothing at all can all be
ways to recharge your mind. Rather than
spending your time on passive activities
like binge watching shows, find a book
or a podcast that teaches you something
new. Monitor your screen time and disconnect
digitally to give your mind a digital
holiday. Be it while on a walk around the
neighborhood or on your walk from the
parking lot to your office—put down your
phone, pull down your mask and stop to
smell the roses. New experiences and
new ways of doing old things can also set
you on the path to mental fitness.
Most of all, remember that mental
fitness is not a checkbox, it’s a moving
goalpost practiced over time with intentionality.
If at first you fail, get up and try
in improv, we gave a performance
worthy of cheers and ovation.