In the taxing scramble of daily professional and personal demands, it’s easy to lose sight of the importance of a balanced life. But putting your own needs on the shelf can put you at risk of burnout and even suicide.
That’s the message of Maria Lesetz in her article, “It’s OK not to be OK,” published in the winter 2016 edition of Physician Family.
Lesetz, a certified life coach, has spent 10 years exploring how burnout can transform into wellness for physicians and their families. Finding life balance is difficult but crucial, she said.
Shedding the idea of invincibility
Lesetz’s research into physician burnout and suicide has convinced her of the need for open conversations free of stigma. She finds that some of the top contributors to suicide are:
- Isolation
- Lack of support
- Lack of autonomy
- Bureaucracy
- Fatigue
- Depression
To deal with burnout in all its forms, physicians have to shed the idea that they have to be “invincible,” she said.
“Physicians have told me that if they even addressed the topic of burnout, it was seen as a symptom of weakness,” Lesetz said. “Expressing your feelings is one of the most important action steps to take if you want to maintain great health, both physically and emotionally.”
She said challenging the culture of invincibility would benefit physicians, their families and the profession as a whole.
Three simple recommendations
Lesetz suggests several action items to begin building balance and wellness:
- Create a “best year yet” plan to set goals for the road ahead, both personally and professionally. Doing so can support balance and set the tone for your life.
- “Don’t medicate … meditate,” Lesetz said. Bringing mindfulness techniques to your daily routine will combat reliance on such things as prescription drugs and alcohol to deal with stress. A short break is all that is needed to practice meditation and mindfulness, she said. “If you build habits of presence into your daily routine, it will profoundly impact how you feel on the inside,” she said.
- For family members, she recommends offering their physician loved one the chance to make a stress-free transition from work to home each day by letting them unwind in their own way. Family members also can help reach out to a life coach if troubling signs, such a burnout or addiction, begin to appear, she said.
“The bottom line is, it’s OK to not be OK,” Lesetz said. “It only takes one courageous action step to turn the course of your life around.”
Ways the medical community is promoting wellness
The AMA has made physician wellness and doctors’ ability to thrive a top priority. Part of the AMA’s Professional Satisfaction and Practice Sustainability initiative, the AMA’s STEPS Forward™ collection of practice improvement strategies offers proven solutions for physicians by physicians.
Three modules are specifically focused on physician wellness: One gives steps for preventing burnout, another module outlines solutions for enhancing joy in practice and mitigating stress, and a third module focuses on ways to promote the well-being of physicians in training.
Other modules provide ways to improve elements of your practice environment that can be risk factors for burnout, such as improving work flow through team documentation, expanded rooming and discharge protocols, pre-visit planning, and synchronized prescription renewal.
Want more information on achieving and maintaining a healthy work-life balance?
- Find out how peer networks can help cope with burnout.
- Hear from a physician and rapper about his unique way of confronting burnout.
- Explore 6 tips for navigating the challenges of a two-physician family.
- See how the Mayo Clinic is creating a model for reducing burnout.
- Learn how accomplishments and professional rewards can reduce burnout and exhaustion
