Veterinary Life is Hard - Handling Stress

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”  - William James

This week at my veterinary hospital there was a lot of discussion about stress management.  Our team had taken an engagement survey a few weeks ago, and we were ready to talk about the results of the survey at our team meeting.  The good news was that overall, 81% of the responses were positive, which is a high score when you account for the number of people and the number of questions on the survey. In fact, 100% of the team members that work at our practice said that we practiced high quality, caring medicine, were supportive of each other, and felt that our team was like a family.  I was thrilled about that.    The most concerning question on the survey was,  “Do you feel that the stress level at your work is manageable?”  Only 48% of the team members answered yes to this question -- less than half.   If we all love each other, practice great medicine, and take great care of our patients and clients, why are we so stressed?

Stress is the “psychological, physiological and behavioral response by an individual when they perceive a lack of equilibrium between the demands placed upon them and their ability to meet those demands, which, over a period of time, leads to ill-health” (Palmer, 1989).

Stress is our perception that demands and our abilities are out of balance.   That explains why half of the people at my hospital, doing the same job, can feel so differently about their stress levels. 

I think that we can all agree that veterinary medicine is a demanding profession.  It has become more demanding in recent years with the higher level of medical choices and the instant gratification mindset of our society.  If demand is higher, then we need better coping skills to meet the higher demand and to keep our stress in check.

The first thing we have to do is understand our own stress.  Stress is a necessary brain response and a natural reaction telling us to run away from dangerous threats.  What thoughts cause you to feel threatened and how do you personally respond?  What are your triggers?  How does your body respond when stress arrives in your brain?  Do you spin in confusion, turn to food, get snappy at your co-workers, or freeze to avoid confronting your stress?  Where in your body do you feel it?  Every person is different and it is up to you to know yourself well enough to detect stress when it starts to manifest itself in you.  If you can identify it early on, you can be prepared to go to battle against it with your stress management tools.

The second thing we have to do is know what stress management techniques work for you.   If you overeat, consume alcohol, spin in confusion, or shut down when you are feeling stressed, you will not get relief.  These are not healthy options and will ultimately make you feel more overwhelmed if you continue to use them to avoid confronting your feelings.  Does meditation, yoga, or just hiding in the bathroom for 5 minutes help you to get your head on straight? If you employ unhealthy coping skills now, you can replace them with healthy coping skills.  Using meditation, deep breathing, exercise or yoga will increase your feelings of wellbeing. Work on these changes one at a time.  The American Psychological Association suggests that switching out one behavior at a time is most effective in creating positive change. 

Set some boundaries.  If you know yourself well enough, you will know how much you can handle.  It is ok to say “no” or ask others for help in order to protect yourself from becoming overwhelmed.  If you are having trouble developing better stress management techniques, do not be afraid to talk to someone.  We all have these thoughts and feelings because we are all human.  Just knowing that others in our profession have the same demand-related stressors, can help alleviate your stress.  When you ask for help, work on believing that you are strong enough to change your perceptions and adopt the techniques that others try to teach you.

We are all in this great profession for a reason.  We love what we do.  Is it hard?  Yes!  My manager sent me a text message this week that helped me on a particularly bad day.  It said, “Life is hard, but I can do hard things.”

Veterinary medicine is hard, but we can do hard things.

Dr. Julie Cappel

“You can’t always control what goes on outside, but you can always control what goes on inside.” – Wayne Dyer


Join me on the Podcast - The Veterinary Life Coach Podcast with Dr. Julie Cappel 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-veterinary-life-coach-podcast-with-dr-julie-cappel/id1451549730?mt=2