Every doctor is expected to be in a good state of mental health at all times, so they can deliver at their jobs efficiently. Many lives depend on the doctors’ hands and knowledge to save them any time and on any day. Thus, doctors almost have no option other than to be stable, healthy, and cheerful enough to deliver well on duty.
People fail to understand the importance of checking up on their doctors to see if they are fine mentally and otherwise. The Organisations or Hospitals they work for are not left out in this regard.
Did you know that many people who smile, are not genuinely happy? Some resort to using substances or stimulants to distract their minds; they end up becoming addicts. A good number of the people, in this case, are very close to dismissing their reason in order to live beyond that minute. It takes just a little bit of kindness to change the direction of one’s mind; possibly save a life or improve one.
- A Quick Call to check up on your Doctor can do the magic:
Being Suicidal is not usually intentional, as life lingering events culminating to it are mostly reversible if early interventions are made. These actions can be a quick call, a little incentive, a smile, a congratulatory message after a successful or unsuccessful day at work, and maybe a surprise vacation approval amongst others. No one enjoys blowing off their candle called life. Doctors are no exception to these suicidal issues. So be kind to them as much as you can.
Doctors who stay very organized at their workplace, may not be so organized at home due to undisclosed family issues (although it’s personal, it also contributes to when the fumes of anger and disaster start splashing all over in their work places).
- Personal advantage of being kind
In a chat with Chidiebere Moses Ogbodo, Customer Relationship Manager at Insights Care Best Healthcare Magazine, we discussed the personal advantage of being kind.
Being Kind to doctors can also be a good thing for you and your health. Health is science, being kind is an art, this could be the only credible link between science and art, so if you want to enjoy the science of health, get active with the art of being kind.
Several research has proven that being nice to other humans indeed is for your own good, more than it is for the other person, it is a key to happiness. When you are nice, you make it easy to develop and sustain healthy relationship.
Kindness to a friend, in this case, your doctor is kindness to your own health, just like you would treat your partner, you are better off replicating such kind gesture to an acquaintance, teacher, or even your UBER driver: It doesn’t matter if you are in deep or shallow relationship, being kind helps to make it deeper.
Being kind is a natural antidote to anxiety, by helping to ease social anxiety. A random act of kindness returns a positive reaction from nature and gives other people more room to interact with you. It is also a way to show gratitude for all we have. Kindness can increase our chances of living longer life. Even though you do not expect much from others, you are always expecting the next day because you want to show someone out there some love. Happiness accompanies a nice human; it boosts your overall joy.
“If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. A day, go fishing. A year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.” a Chinese Quote
Being kind produces oxytocin, the “love hormone.” and makes away with stress, leading you to the doorstep of many more opportunities and increasing your chances of great success in life. So, being kind to your doctor, like everyone else, increases the chances of successful healthcare intervention, and great results. Show your doctors they are valued and breed genuine trust.
While researching on this topic: Doctors Are Humans Too, Be Kind To Them, I ran into a Rapid response to: Doctors being investigated after an unexpected death need more support, says MDU https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k3303 (Published 27 July 2018)
- We have read the article entitled “Doctors being investigated after an unexpected death need more support, says MDU” by Abi Rimmer and would like to share our views on the topic as we have seen some colleagues go through it.
- We, as physicians, are also humans. When a patient dies due to a mistake a physician made or from any unexpected cause, we are affected too. Most countries do not provide any kind of psychological help to these physicians. Instead, the media, as well as the Medical Councils of these countries, tend to focus on mudslinging the physicians.
- Such events haunt the physicians and cause an unrepairable fall in confidence later, even if their names are cleared.
- Our suggestion would be for most countries to adopt a system where the physicians and other medical workers involved are properly followed up by a psychiatrist during the ordeal to provide them any help, they might need to deal with the issue. This can prevent any suicidal tendencies they might develop during the course of the inquiry.
- We have no conflict of interest or competing interest to declare.
Although the above rapid response was more technical and mostly of a live event that has happened, I see the close relationship with the issue being discussed in my essay, and I find it interesting that the world is paying attention to these kinds of issues; hopefully, our beloved doctors will gain the necessary attention and support they deserve as humans.
About the Author:
Obodo Chukwuka Paschal
My Medicare Healthcare
CEO/CO-FOUNDER
Obodo Chukwuka Paschal is a 27yr old Medical Doctor who hails from Enugu State in Nigeria, He trained in one of the finest Teaching Hospital in Nigeria (UNTH), where he got his MBBS. He further did his Housemanship at Military Hospital Lagos after which he did the Compulsory one-year service (NYSC) in the same Hospital. In the course of his practice as a Medical Doctor, he found out there are a lot of gaps in medical service delivery in Nigeria, which he was very eager to solve. This made him team up with his friends as Co-founders to bring to life MyMedicare.
MyMedicare is a Healthtech Start-up Company, focused on making medical services easily affordable and accessible to Nigerians. Patients can book Doctors and request lab investigations online. They can also request for doctors close by to see them in their homes. The App is currently in development and should launch fully before the end of November 2022. MyMedicare is a MedTech Start-up Company that hopes to solve the common challenges in healthcare delivery in Nigeria/Africa.
