"Good" Stress or "Bad" Stress?
Midway on our life's journey, I found myself In dark woods, the right road lost.—Dante
In every era, some percentage of physicians, being human, has complained about the profession, the practice of medicine, and the world in general. Arguably, however, this current era is unlike any other. Is this the "end of times" for the profession or for you, yourself, in your role as a physician?
Conscientious physicians are constantly stressed about work. They always have been and always will be stressed about their patients. Like the Jimmy Buffett song "It's My Job" says:
It's my job to [be] worried half to death And that's the thing people respect in me It's a job but without it I'd be less Than what I expect from me.
Today's physician stress is a different stress. To get a sense of what I mean, consider the classic Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, which ranks positive as well as negative life events based on the degree of stress, not just the polarity of the stress. For example, getting married is rated as much more stressful than changing to a different line of work or a business readjustment.
Physicians are sometimes as invested in the outcomes and well-being of their patients as if they were married, though this dynamic is often not requited (and certainly not consummated).
