It’s Time to “Yz-up”!
“Why is it important to swim with a buddy?” Our local YMCA swim instructor
One of the inspirations for the PeerRxMed process is the YMCA youth swimming program – specifically their “buddy system” for swimmers. I learned to swim at the “Y”, and prior to the pandemic, was a regular fixture at our local branch. Before a children’s swimming class gets in the pool, the instructor always asks, “Why is it important to swim with a buddy.” The most common answer is an enthusiastic “So somebody is watching out for you!”, often followed closely by “So you don’t drown!” and “Because it’s more fun!” There is great wisdom in all three of these answers.
On January 27th, Medscape released the results of their annual "Physician Burnout and Depression Report" The results were sobering, as was the quote included as part of the title: “I cry but no one cares.” The tragically high prevalence of professional burnout (53% overall – up from 47% a year ago) has been ongoing for so long now and the proportional response seemingly so anemic that it would be understandable if many colleagues are feeling forgotten. However, what really caught my attention were some additional data that are quite notable and very relevant to the PeerRxMed movement. For instance, the question, “How do you cope with burnout?” had almost as many colleagues answering “spend time alone/isolate myself” (40%) as “Talk with family or friends” (45%), and almost a quarter of respondents indicated they use alcohol to cope.
It gets worse. For the question “Has burnout had a negative effect on your relationships?”, 65% of our colleagues answered “Yes” (and I would contend the other 35% haven’t asked), yet only 13% have sought professional help and more than a third indicated they would not consider seeking help. In addition, 23% said they felt depressed and 6% indicated they were experiencing clinical depression, yet over half shared they would not seek help because “depression says something negative about me.”
So once again we must ask the annual follow-up question, “What’s up with this behavior!?” We all know the healthcare system is dysfunctional and it requires extreme daily effort on the part of clinicians to try and navigate it. And yet, in the midst of these challenges, instead of learning from our swim class teachers and supporting each other, we too often lean into our professional bias toward independence, isolation, and aversion to help-seeking to get through the day. Indeed, such an approach is built into the culture of medicine – it’s what we’re selected to do, trained to do, socialized to do, programmed to do, and expected to do. In many ways, it’s our “badge of honor.” Somehow, we’ve come to believe that as long as we emotionally “armor-up” we are magically invulnerable to the tragedy and suffering we’re surrounded by each day as well as the often-overwhelming patient care demands, regulatory burdens, administrative hassles, technological inefficiencies, structural challenges, and organizational dysfunction.
PeerRxMed was created to help break down the many barriers the culture of medicine has created which interfere with our fundamental human need to connect with and support each other. The past 3 years have only brough into finer focus this need that existed before the pandemic and will be here after. Let’s learn an important lesson from the local swimming class and be sure to regularly check in with our colleagues to ensure that none of us are trying to “swim” without a buddy. Doing so in the face of the statistics above is just reckless … and lonely. It’s time to “Yz-up” and help each other do the same. No one should care alone … ever.