Preventing burnout and depression: Healthcare professionals and self-care

Individuals who work in the healthcare field do so for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is helping others. The responsibility that doctors, nurses and many others including mental health professionals take on is significant. In addition, the barriers to entry into these fields are fairly high, requiring at least a master’s or professional degree. The combination of the nature of the work and the barriers to entry tends to attract a certain type of individual who is high achieving, perfectionistic and who has learned through their life experiences to be somewhat self-sacrificing.

When doctors are on-call, they have to sacrifice one of their most basic needs, sleep, to serve their patients. One term that we use a great deal in the psychology and counseling fields, but I hear rarely in the medical field, is self-care. When I was going through internship interviews several years ago, one of the common questions was, “What do you do for self-care?”

What is self-care and why is it important?

At this point, some of you may be wondering, “what is he talking about?” while others might be thinking, “I’m really bad at self-care.” For the few who have really solid self-care practices, I’d like you to pat yourself on the back. Self-care is what it sounds like; it is caring for yourself in a way that relieves stress and to some degree helps you to achieve balance in your life. Some professionals I’ve seen are adamant against self-care; others make excuses such as lack of time or energy for continuing to not take care of themselves.

Whether or not you are reluctant to engage in self-care, the risk of not taking care of yourself is burnout and, ultimately, perhaps depression and a host of other health-related issues. In essence, you will be a less effective worker if you do not take care of yourself appropriately.

How do you engage in self-care?

If you desire to begin taking better care of yourself, and you do not think you have an idea how, you might think about all the different aspects of yourself (physical, social, emotional, spiritual, etc.) and list all the things that you do for yourself.  Some examples might include playing sports, spending time with friends and family or reading a good book. I’ve included a self-care wheel below to give you an idea of how to organize your list, but you can do it in any way you like.  With the wheel, you may notice that while you are exceptionally good at taking care of one aspect of yourself, you are neglecting another part of you.

If you are experiencing some difficulty prioritizing your self-care, and you would like to overcome this, engaging in psychotherapy can not only help you explore this, but it is a great self-care practice in and of itself. If you have never sought out mental health services before, you can read my post which offers some suggestions that you may want to consider.

Specifically for mental health professionals who seek therapy

I might add that being a mental health professional who uses psychotherapy myself, it is important to find a therapist who feels comfortable in working with other therapists. I happen to enjoy working with other therapists, but some may not feel the same way.

If you are in the Nashville area, and you would like more information about my services, please do not hesitate to contact us at 615-582-2882.

Take good care,

Dan