In work environment bedevilled with heightened stress and sometimes difficult conditions, it is imperative to remind doctors to pay attention to their physical and mental well-being. Dr Lawal Abisoye wrote a piece doing just that below.
_____
Good morning colleagues, a quick reminder.
We have a noble call, which is the servitude of mankind. Alleviation of sufferings and restoration of health is what we do. This takes a lot from us, physically, mentally, emotionally, morally and even spiritually.
I want to remind us that we are humans, however “super”. Our bodies, spirits and souls need to be looked after.
Eat adequately; have your breakfast, take adequate water, let your kidneys rejoice, take fruits in any and every form, even smoothies, exercise, pace yourself. Don’t stay on a liquid diet, don’t console yourself overtly with junk.
Take time off to rest, our activities call for sacrifices and stretching, not at the expense of your good health; recognize and embrace your limits; after all, you are also human.
We make a lot of withdrawals from our emotional bank. We aren’t numb to the sufferings of our patients, every death takes a piece of us. Give yourself time to grief, talk about it at least to colleagues that understand. Get a psychologist if need be; there’s a limit to bottling up, we all need sanity. Cry if you must, weep in your closet if you have to, you’ve earned it.
Don’t let anyone guilt-trip you into doing beyond what you can; you owe yourself a responsibility to be healthy. The funny thing is that you owe this responsibility to your patients as well.
Have a connection with God our Maker and in whatever belief you ascribe to if you don’t believe there’s a God. Spiritual health is as important and physical.
First do no harm.
Do not run yourself down.
Have a wonderful day and week ahead.
Ecstacy
______
Visit Dr Lawal’s Twitter thread
Oumissa Inspire 