Time to Open Up!
“It’s time to open up!” Many Impatient Souls
Over the years, I’ve had many physicians tell me they have a hard time opening up to colleagues about their struggles – or, truth be told, to anyone else. While it seems quite easy for most to ask for help when it comes to a clinical question, the same is not true for the many non-clinical professional challenges we encounter while traveling our journey in healthcare.
If this is at all true for you, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. The culture of medicine most of us were trained in and now practice in has socialized us to give the impression that no matter what is really going on in our lives, to the rest of the world, we’re “fine.” In many ways, it has become our “badge of honor” – that somehow magically we’re invulnerable to the tragedy and suffering we’re surround by each day. But on the inside, we know that’s not true, and the consequences of this constant internal distress can bring about a myriad of emotions, including shame, guilt, embarrassment, despondence, burnout, grief … and many more.
Fortunately, this tendency can be overcome with intention and practice. For some who are not as comfortable sharing their struggles, perhaps a better place to start is by sharing something less “threatening” about yourself, such as your hopes and dreams, or perhaps just something about yourself that is important to you that others, for whatever reason, may not know about. For example, I greatly enjoy writing poetry and find deep meaning in doing so, but it’s only in the last 2 years that I have started sharing those poems more widely. I’m now quite glad I have, as not only have others found some of the poems to be quite meaningful, but it has given some other “reluctant poets” the courage to share as well.
The practice of medicine is challenging enough without trying to navigate the struggles of our professional lives alone. What would it look like for you to “open up” just a little bit more? Not only will it allow your PeerRx partner and others to support you more effectively, but it also may give them the courage to open up more as well.