Managing Stress
As I look back on stressful times in my life, specifically in pharmacy school, I now think “that wasn’t so bad.” I think about how we can make situations we go through 1,000 times more stressful than what they really are and how it important it is to take care of ourselves during situations that are out of our control.
As health care professionals, we encounter challenging patient situations or general work situations daily that affect all aspects of our life, not just work. The majority of our time is spent with our colleagues and patients, so our work life highly affects our daily mood, outlook, and overall quality of life. So, let’s sit back and think, what do we do on a daily basis to help manage our stress? What do we do to keep a positive attitude? How can we effectively lift up our patients and manage their chronic disease states?
In order to best serve our patients and to have a great quality of life, we should make sure we are doing all we can to take care of ourselves, especially when it comes to mental and emotional health. There are small interventions we can make in our lives that won’t take up too much time out of our already busy schedules. Below are some ideas for how to help prepare and reset our minds and practice mindfulness.
Breathing exercises
- After each patient encounter, take a few deep breaths with long exhalations in between. Reset your mind for the next patient. After work, you can do the same to let go any of the challenging situations that faced you that day.
The outdoors
- “Fresh air is good for the soul.” If you love the outdoors, enjoy the beauty of Duke University’s campus.
- Durham also has a variety of options for outdoor activities such as walking, hiking, and biking trails.
- Eno River State Park, West Point on the Eno City Park, American Tobacco Trail, Greenway Trail, Penny’s bend Nature Preserve (not an exclusive list)
Meditating
- Close your eyes for a few minutes, imagine your favorite scene (i.e. the beach, mountains, family/home) and focus on that while listening to calming music or sitting in silence.
Other activities
- Self-reflection: reviewing in the moment; how could I have handled the situation differently? What did I do well?
- Leisure reading (not medical or pharmacy journals) is good to keep your mind focused on other topics than medicine.
- Listening to music or podcasts is a favorite past time for many people. Listen to your favorite genre or listen to a genre that takes you to your favorite scene.
There are many things we can do to combat stress throughout our work weeks. I utilize these methods when I am counseling patients with depression and anxiety. I individualize each counseling session with the patient’s interests and their environmental situations.
I believe as providers who counsel our patients daily on mindfulness and taking care of themselves, we should also take the appropriate steps to maintain our mindfulness.
Sarah Russell is a second-year pharmacy resident with the Duke Family Medicine. Email srussell@campbell.edu with questions.
Editor’s note: Duke Family Medicine residents guest blog every month. Blogs represent the opinion of the author, not the Duke Family Medicine Residency Program, the Department of Community and Family Medicine or Duke University.