dIstressed or dEstressed?

Nobody is immune to stress. Levels of stress are high among health professionals; too much may lead to burn-outs. Stress zaps you of energy and occasionally translates to various aches and pains. It also dampens your creative spirit.

I was low-bat creative writing wise when asked for an article. So I thought I’d ask around how others manage their stress. The following questions were sent through e-mail, text messaging and published in the blog.

Are you stressed? Is it important to destress? How do you do it?

The responses were very interesting to say the least. Fifty responded to the survey; 23 males and 27 females. All but one admitted to being stressed and was unanimous in saying that relaxation is important.

Popular answers on how to manage stress include travel and physical activity (such as walking, golf, tennis, dancing, mountain biking, --x). Other responses include prayer and meditation, isolation, bonding with family, eating out, shopping, salon or spa treatments, reading, watching a movie or play and a good night’s sleep.

Are you stressed? Professionally, yes, especially when under pressure by serious patient's relatives in search of a scapegoat. Family stresses are of a different genre. Is de-stressing important? Very important. It is the ticket to peace of mind and order in the workplace. How do you do it? Take the bull by the horns. Face the issues and discuss them in as friendly a manner as possible with the people involved, relatives and kibitzers. all together. Use simple language, analogies, examples, a combination of methods that have been known to work. Show them you are not a pushover and that you command and deserve respect as much as you show respect. If needed there is always a way out and that is by parting ways in as atraumatic a manner as possible. Get help from other doctors.

Are you stressed? Yes. Is destressing important? Very important. How do you do it? Attitude is key. Stress is omnipresent…traffic, people, work, etc. Tips: Pull back and relax. Focus or fail. Prioritize and delegate. Create an infra structure for any plan. Passion and commitment…work becomes less stressful when you love it. Know when to stop. Do not engage in politics…just honest work. Be humble. Read non medical books. Play basketball on weekends with friends. Laugh with your office buddies. Watch two movies a week…one English and one Pinoy. Watch “Maging sino ka man…NBA basketball .. Prison break..HBO and Cinema One” Shop for the best tie at a lower price. Spend Sundays with the family – malling.

Am I stressed? Yes, but not often, and not always about the practice of medicine - because I love being a doctor. Sometimes, chatting with patients even destresses me when I have concerns in other aspects of my life. Is it important to destress? Of course! Or we will all be a bundle of nerves. How do I do it? Being with my family especially on weekends, when our college daughter is home from her dorm is always destressing. We also love entertaining at home and we often have a group of friends come over for dinner and long converations, sometimes we play board games like Taboo, Guesstures, Cranium, etc, or sometimes we spend time with the Magic Sing. My husband and I also love to travel, and learning about new places and cultures never fails to break the monotony, or should I say the routine, of daily clinic work.

My own stress management prescription: Acceptance and learning to say no.

Until the next survey.

stress management, survey