Contents tagged with mental health
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Declutter your mind this spring with these helpful strategies
By Anticipate Joy
Spring is fast approaching! The change in season inspires motivation for a refreshing change in our environments and moods. Spring is often associated with cleaning and re-organization of our homes, but today we would like to encourage thoughtful consideration to set aside time to declutter your mind. By getting rid of stress, anxiety, racing thoughts, or negativity that you may be holding on to, you create a refreshing space for peace, joy, and enjoyment to settle in, and we have the perfect strategy to help. We would like to feature a couple of mindfulness strategies to help you gain greater perspective and peace of mind.
So what is mindfulness? Mindfulness is an integrative mind-body strategy to help manage your thoughts, feelings, and mental health. Research shows mindfulness helps relieve stress, treat heart disease, lower blood pressure, reduce chronic pain, improve sleep, and improve mental health. Here are a couple of easy ways to tap into mindfulness.
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Give yourself the gift of better mental health in 2023
By Anticipate Joy
In a recent survey by the Commonwealth Fund, half of the physicians under the age of 55 in the United States reported being burned out, while 61% said they’ve experienced emotional distress since the start of the pandemic. In addition, 45% of U.S. physicians aged 55 or older plan to stop seeing patients within the next one to three years, according to the survey. These findings are not surprising considering the heightened levels of stress physicians endured because of COVID.
Family physicians are dealing with a high level of stress, which if not treated with mental health interventions, could have a negative impact on emotional stability. As clinical psychologists, we often encourage preventive mental health care to professionals in high-stress occupations. It is vitally important that family physicians make caring for their mental health a priority. Sadly, only 16% of physicians under age 55 said they sought professional help for a mental health problem since the beginning of COVID-19. That total declined to just 6% among older physicians who also reported emotional distress. Part of the reluctance to seek help is founded on a fear of how seeking mental health treatment could impact one’s ability to practice medically.
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Is self-care selfish?
By Anticipate Joy
As a physician you may be struggling with caring for the needs of others, while prioritizing your personal needs and you may be asking, “Is self-care selfish?”
It’s a common question.
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Helping the doctors who help our children’s mental health
By TAFP President Mary Nguyen, MD, and Texas Pediatric Society President-Elect Louis Appel, MD, MPH
We urge all physicians to become educated about the ongoing mental health crisis our youth and families are facing. These are the facts none of us can escape in our busy practices: one in four children suffer from a mental health condition, 50% of serious mental health disorders have been diagnosed by age 14, and suicide rates continue to increase for young people. COVID-19 has only worsened these worrisome national trends.
Between 2016 and 2020, the number of children ages three to 17 diagnosed with anxiety grew by 29%, and depression jumped by 27%. Those numbers are expected to grow even more as young people recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health. In 2022 they released a Blueprint for Youth Suicide Prevention detailing prevention strategies designed to support pediatric health clinicians.
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Burnout a national problem; TMA Wellness Fund can help
By Tammy Wishard
In a recent advisory calling attention to health care worker burnout, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, highlighted the broad response the situation calls for: “We must ensure that every health worker has access to affordable, confidential, and convenient mental health care.”
If finances are keeping you or someone you know from seeking treatment for depression, anxiety, substance use, or other conditions, the Texas Medical Association’s PBF Wellness Fund is here to help overcome that barrier.
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Utilize TAFP resource for mental health support from home
By Anticipate Joy
It’s 2022 and sad to say the stigma surrounding seeking mental health services is still alive and well. Despite well-intended efforts to reduce the stigma, many people continue to see mental health issues as a sign of weakness, leaving those who suffer from mental illness feeling alone in their struggle. However, if mental health is a concern for you, you are far from alone. In 2019, 20.6% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness, representing 51.5 million people or one in five adults. 5.2% of U.S. adults experienced serious mental illness, representing 13.1 million people or one in 20 adults. Mental illness is more common than you might believe, demonstrating that you are not the only one struggling.
Of particular concern, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, early evidence suggests the rate of depression in physicians across age groups is 25%. A study evaluating barriers to treatment for physicians found that 70% of physicians with moderate to severe depression reported “getting an appointment that fits my schedule” as a major barrier to mental health treatment.
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It's OK to ask for a little help from your friends
By Anticipate Joy
Do you ever find yourself feeling alone in dealing with various personal and professional life stressors? As a result, do you find yourself turning inward and isolating? The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that social isolation is associated with about a 50% increased risk for dementia and other serious medical issues.
It’s important to keep in mind, not only is loneliness a high-risk factor for depression, but it is also a risk factor for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and arthritis.
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March 2022 Member of the Month
Member of the Month: Zach Sartor, MD
Mental health advocate passionate about training family medicine’s next generation
By Samantha White
posted 03.02.22
Zach Sartor, MD, is the Curriculum … more
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Putting mental health tools in the hands of primary care physicians
Access psychopharmacology clinical support with The Waco Guide
By Zach Sartor, MD
We are living amid a mental health epidemic. One in five people experience mental illness yearly, and the volume of mental and behavioral health disorders will increase in the future due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Primary care is the de facto mental health system in the United States. Primary care clinicians serve most patients receiving treatment for mental illness, prescribing a majority of psychotropic medications in the process. However, two-thirds of family medicine physicians cannot connect their patients with essential mental health support services. Therefore, most behavioral health care services occur in the primary care office. Although the situation is dire, this challenge represents an opportunity to provide high-value mental health care in the primary care context. Family medicine can lead the way forward.
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Mental health in the time of COVID
By Katherine Buck, PhD, LMFT
This article is an edited version of a continuing medical education lecture Dr. Buck presented during the 2020 Annual Session and Primary Care Summit.
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