How to recognize and treat your own mental illness

Doctors have a high probability of suicide and exposure to alcoholism, so we must be prepared for this fact (and try to warn him), as well as other health risks associated with the health (or patterns) of the professional and personal life of the doctor. Our ability to observe oneself is never as good as the ability to observe others. And if the healer himself is wounded, it is understandable that his ability to help others will decrease. Our own diseases can provide us, the doctors, with invaluable services in understanding our patients and in what makes them go to the doctor (or, on the contrary, why they refuse medical help), and also in understanding the barriers that we ( patients) can be erected in order not to use the advice of a doctor. But the very thought of the sick doctor remains a paradox for the layman, and thus we can ask the question: Can a true spiritual mastery of a large scale be ever defeated by someone who is among his slaves? After all, the time will come when our mental state will seriously weaken our ability to work, and we should be able to recognize it and take appropriate steps. The following are the signs that may suggest that such a moment is approaching.

• The doctor uses alcohol before he goes on a detour or an operation.
• The doctor begins to reduce any contact with patients and reduces it to the minimum.
• The doctor can not concentrate on the matter that he has "in his hands." At the same time, his thoughts are completely occupied with the work that is to come in the next few days.
• Irritability (which is determined by disagreement with more than one nurse during the day).
• Inability to take a day off without feeling guilty.
• Feeling of excessive shame and anger at a new meeting with the employees with whom he was in conflict. In order to avoid further mistakes, it seems that all of us, doctors, should be left with medicine.
• Emotional exhaustion (this is a condition where the doctor knows that in any situation he will be pleased or, on the contrary, will become angry with himself or with others, but at the same time, gathering all his mental powers, he can do nothing) .

Prospective studies have shown that intraversion (ie, self-absorption), masochism and isolation are important risk factors for medical insolvency.

The first step in recognizing such an impending state is the recognition of this fact. The next step will be recognition in this person whom you trust. Then give your brain time to recover. If the steps taken have not yielded results, try to get rid of individual symptoms. For example, if the painful thought that you have treated your patients incorrectly, without hurrying, carefully return to you all the time, carefully consider this circumstance and try to find positive aspects in your medical activity. This will be the first step that will give you control over yourself. You yourself must begin to think this way and not allow thinking to go uncontrollably along the path that destroys you. Then direct the thinking through some neutral channel, because by that time a series of bad thoughts will have been sufficiently muted. After several repetitions of this experience, thinking itself will be neutral. If suddenly thoughts of disabling thoughts come to you, then a cycle of shameful and unpleasant thoughts for you will, however, be interrupted.

If all this does not bring you relief, it seems that it's time to consult a specialist, well, for example, your general practitioner. We have a confidential group of mutual assistance in case of drug addiction or other similar problems. This is a group of British doctors and dentists, which can be contacted through the Medical Council on Alcoholism. If, for example, you yourself are such an expert and the doctor has come to you for advice, then, for God's sake, do not deceive yourself by some incredible difficulties and treat your patient doctor as you are used to. The fact is that a special treatment approach leads to special mistakes in treatment, and thus it is much better to direct the patient doctors on well-verified paths of counseling, examination and treatment than to try to deceive deceptively short, special and new ways.

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