Volume 8 Issue 9 September, 2018
Doctors have much higher rates of mental illness, alcohol & drug abuse and suicides among all professions and the general population of the same age and gender. Women doctors are more vulnerable and seem to succumb more easily to depression. Are we Doctors in denial of these facts?
Doctors become very good at ‘putting on a mask’ of professionalism and caring for others, as our Medical Education has trained us to do so. We were never taught to take care of ourselves and often feel guilty for taking time out for ourselves! There is too much shame and social stigma attached to mental illness among medical fraternity. This prevents accessing of help by the troubled person. Hence, there is an urgent need for sensitization and awareness creation among Medicos. To be able to recognize early signs in oneself and among our peers, so as to get timely help; we need to be trained.
Unidentified, Unrelenting and Untreated Stress, Anxiety, chronic lack of Sleep and Exhaustion can progress to Distressed and Disturbed Doctors, to Disorder and Depression; sometimes even Death!
What is Burn-Out and how does it happen to a doctor? Burn-Out is a very insidious and a silent tragedy. Causes are both external and internal. A flame to burn bright needs a wick, fuel and oxygen. To burn steadily it needs protection from wind and rain. Similarly a doctor needs self-love and self-compassion to ensure self-care. To work effectively we need a sense of purpose and fulfillment in the work we do. This can counter-balance the drudgery, the long hours, the pain and suffering we witness and the death of patients we cannot save. If we do NOT give ourselves adequate attention, care and time to rest on a daily basis, we will lose the passion and motivation to keep doing the work we were trained to do. We will stop enjoying the role of care giver, our emotional balance gets upset and the sense of fulfillment from the profession fades very quickly. If we are just working to finish a job, to earn a salary or find it unfulfilling, these are signs that we need help or likely to have a total burn-out!
When ‘I’ changes to ‘WE’ even ‘I-llness’ becomes ‘WE-llness’! Hence we have D-4-D; Doctors4Doctors! This is the name of the project initiated by the IMA National Committee for Emotional Health and Emotional Well-being of Medical Students and Doctors in India. We want the Medical Community to come together under D-4-D, to help one another while also helping ourselves to stay healthy, motivated, energized, passionate and compassionate towards ourselves and our patients. When we join hands with fellow doctors, we know we are not alone in facing internal and external challenges and we are confident that we will find the right support, acceptance, empathy and even professional help if we need it, within the D-4-D community.
IMA will collaborate with NIMHANS, IPS and select NGOs working in this space. D-4-D will create Awareness, Advocacy, Emotional Wellbeing, Robust Resilience and Coping Capabilities among UG, PG Medical Students and Doctors in India. Well-being is the Vaccine against Depression!
Vision Statement for IMA Project “Doctors-4-Doctors”
“Together, we will make India a country where no medical student or doctor ever feels so isolated, helpless and desperate in life, as to go through burn-out, fall into depression or commit suicide! We will achieve this by doing all we can to create Emotional Well-being, provide training and tools for self-help and offer D-4-D Free Help Lines to those in need!”
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