|
THE SURVIVOR
Dr Geoffrey Toogood is a cardiologist in Frankston, Victoria. He is a long-time campaigner for doctors’ mental health and is a regular speaker at Beyondblue events. On 1 June he launched his own‘ Odd Socks Day’ on Twitter, to raise awareness of the issue.
|
IT took a minor stroke, causing transient global amnesia, before I could take much-needed leave from work.
However, it wasn’ t the stroke I needed to recover from; it was the severe depression I had been experiencing. The truth is, this organic event saved my life.
All this took place back in 2013, when I was facing major stresses both at work and in my private life.
I had experienced moderate depression a few years before— moderate enough that I could work through it. But this time it was much, much worse.
I was so depressed and so stressed that suicidal thoughts occupied my mind both day and night— but especially at night.
I had written the final note; clearly I was in serious trouble.
The urgent requirement for me to seek medical help was apparent to some close friends and was starting to reach me.
However, I was scared, in fact very scared about the repercussions for my career … the question I kept asking myself was,‘ would I work again?’
What would happen if I sought help? Would I be reported to AHPRA?
I was a doctor, highly skilled in my area. What else would I do if I wasn’ t able to practise my craft?
What if my colleagues found out about my mental health issues? Would they report me? What about my return when recovered? How would they treat me?
My fears were delaying me seeking help— the very help I needed to stay alive.
Finally, I confided in some people at work; I told them I was suicidal. I told them I wanted to take leave. But it was only when the stroke symptoms hit that my leave was approved.
|
There’ s really no better example than this of the way doctors with mental health issues are treated by their colleagues.
Even my own attitudes to mental health were tainted by the culture within medicine, which sees those who suffer such illnesses as less competent than their peers.
These fears delayed me seeking the professional help I needed. Instead I tried self-medicating with natural remedies. In the end I called my GP. She took control and told me what we needed to do so I could start to recover. Following her advice and treatment plan was pivotal. A compassionate doctor will understand exactly what you’ re experiencing, as an individual and as an industry peer. Her advice and those of other
|
health professionals who took on my care were paramount.
They allayed my professional fears, telling me that I needn’ t be reported as I was taking leave and was not a risk to patients.
I have little doubt now that the outcome could have been far bleaker, even terminally so, if I had been reported.
I really feel for today’ s doctors, of which I am still one. I think system pressures, such as workloads, have increased since I was more junior.
There are also many challenges that haven’ t changed, such as the pressure doctors as high achievers put on themselves to perform continuously at the top level.
And( as I know only too well) the medical mindset that means doctors see it as a failure to be sick themselves.
|
‘ IN THE END I CALLED MY GP. SHE TOOK CONTROL AND TOLD ME WHAT WE NEEDED TO DO.’
This intolerance to taking sick leave— especially for mental illness— is a long and embedded cultural issue that must change.
We need to learn to fit our own oxygen mask first.
When we are ill, we need to be courageous and seek help. And our peers and colleagues need to be courageous and support us.
PHOTO: Skye Brewster
|
|
THE GP
Dr Janette Randall is a GP in Capalaba, Queensland. She is chair of the AMA’ s Doctors Health Services board and has cared for many doctor-patients with mental health issues.
|
WE hear a lot about doctors not being very good at taking care of their own health.
They self-diagnose and treat, have corridor consultations with reluctant colleagues, and generally deny their own health needs for as long as possible. Sound familiar? But it doesn’ t have to be like this. While I have treated a number of colleagues over the years, the one I learnt the most from was in fact a great doctor-patient.
We had worked in the same area for a while when she contacted me and asked if I would be her GP.
I’ d been a GP for about 10 years at that stage, so certainly not
|
seasoned— but at least broken in.
It was also the first time a colleague had checked with me first before just booking in. I was a bit nervous, but at the same time felt very privileged to have been asked.
The first couple of years were just the usual preventive health stuff, but then two significant things happened for this doctor-patient.
First, was the onset of an inflammatory joint condition followed by some significant life events, which resulted in an episode of depression.
On both occasions, my doctorpatient arrived with a list of symptoms, a working diagnosis and some thoughts about treatment, but
|
wasn’ t going to action anything until we had talked it through.
My job here was to be a sounding board and to understand my doctorpatient’ s goals for her treatment.
Due to her high level of health literacy and good understanding of local health networks, I really didn’ t have much to add from a management perspective, but what I could provide was a safe space to talk about the impact of these health conditions on her work and other aspects of her life.
During the depressive episode, I was also able to help her step away from work for a while and focus on getting better.
|