How to be Happy Again: A Simple Guide Physicians

Do you know which lucrative, highly regarded career profession causes many members to experience severe, recurring mental depression and unhappiness episodes?

Airline pilots.

Airline pilots are highly trained professionals and the lone voice of authority while a commercial airliner is in flight. And airline pilots are the closest things to a superhero that exists in reality.

And that is not a comparison of praise; it is a commentary on the immense expectations of perfection that society places on airline pilots.

Airline pilots are expected to be infallible, never to make mistakes, and to perform their jobs while under incredible stress perfectly every time they fly a plane. And airline pilots are entrusted with so much power and responsibility that it's a wonder why more people do consider what a toll such stresses take on them.

After all, they are still human beings. But airline pilots who work under considerable stress are more likely to be depressed than other people.

Over 12.6% of airline pilots have experienced severe, elevated, and sometimes suicidal bouts of depression. Many airline pilots are afraid of getting help for depression or unhappiness due to the stigmatization and public perception attached to pilots who get help.

Although it is not a cure-all for the issue, many airline pilots must undergo emotional and psychological assessments when necessary. 

Crew Resource Management, or CRM, is a resource management system that teaches pilots that it's OK not to have all the correct answers or to allocate responsibility to others.

And there is a burgeoning full-scale life coaching industry for airline pilots that grows by the day.

Do you know what profession has the highest percentage of depression relative to any other industry, including commercial aviation?

Doctors

Doctors and the Inability to be Happy

Almost 30% of doctors experience crippling depression, an inability to be happy, and elevated moods of self-harm. The depression rate amongst doctors is over three times greater than that experienced by the general population.

Doctors are expected to be flawless and perfect daily. Doctors make stressful life and death decisions every time they go to work. And doctors are expected to be superhuman – even though they are just human beings.

And unlike airline pilots, there is no life coach industry for doctors, or at least a widely accepted one, because doctors fear the stigmatization of not being perfect at their grueling jobs.

However, all of that needs to change for emotional wellness and the avoidance of physician burnout in the medical industry. 

Here are various life coaching tips on how to be happy that any doctor can utilize.

Professional life coaching has been proven to improve feelings of well-being, efficiency at work and decrease the probability of burnout. If you require physician life coaching, contact Deanna Larson M.D. today.

Related: Gratitude: How Gratitude Makes You Happier 

How Can I Get My Happiness Back?

As previously mentioned, over 30% of doctors experience severe episodes of depression and unhappiness. And a lot of these doctors are young, medical students, or residents still in their training.

Many doctors polled in the depression survey said that their depression started during medical school or their residencies.

Doctors must learn a lot of information about the human body in a few years. Then as medical students and residents, they stressfully thrust into diagnosing and treating patients as a part of learning.

Doctors are conditioned to rely on basic training and the lessons of past generations and established medical doctrines to do their jobs. 

Doctors can't show weakness, uncertainty, and they are always expected to project that they know what they are doing, especially during the worst of experiences.

Medical physicians are always expected to give everything of themselves to their work.

So, how can happiness be restored? One way to find happiness is to get more sleep.

Doctors work long hours under stressful conditions, and they don't get a lot of time to themselves.

Get seven to eight hours of slumber daily. And go to sleep and awaken at the same time every day to protect circadian rhythms.

Having more time to rest can help doctors think about more things to be happy and appreciative about.

How Can I be Happy and Positive Again?

Achieving happiness is not a destination. 

It's a lifelong journey. 

And the word "happiness" has a relatively different meaning for different people.

And unfortunately for many doctors, the word happiness may not have a lot of meaning. Additionally, depending on their workload, doctors may have only a few things to be optimistic about.

They operate on patients, deliver bad news to patients, and helping patients in physical pain and emotional distress every day can be emotionally devastating. 

And for every medical success, there can be several setbacks with other cases. It can be difficult to feel happy or positive when you are a doctor.

Try smiling. And don't fake smile or try to make yourself happy. Smile to see what will happen. 

Smiling ignites chemical reactions in the brain that makes us feel a little happier.

So, smile the next time you have a reason to smile, and you may learn what makes you positive and happy.

Why do I Hate my Life?

Answering why you may hate your life could take a lot of time and honest personal reflection.

It is a lot easier to hate one's life than to understand and assess why that life is hated truthfully.

You can chat with a mental health expert or life coach. But before doing that, you must honestly assess your emotions to talk about them.

Keep a daily journal. Write in it every day, especially when you feel unhappy. You may find clues within yourself to explain why you hate your life.

Why do I feel like I have no Emotions?

Doctors may feel that they have no emotions because they have stressful jobs that require them to be dispassionate and break bad news with a poker face to patients often.

And doctors have to be steely, dispassionate, and unemotional when performing surgery to do their jobs.

But that emotionless state can carry over to their personal lives, where it isn't helpful.

Try finding a self-help ritual that suits your needs. Indulge in activities that help you feel positive emotions.

The simplest thing you can do is to find a half-hour to an hour every day for yourself to meditate or think without interruption.

How do I Stop Being so Unhappy?

Everyone feels unhappy. Wallowing in unhappiness or feeling like there is no reason ever to be happy won't help matters. 

It is OK to acknowledge unhappiness. Experience it while in the moment. But then change your mental focus to assessing what made you unhappy and what it would take to recover fully.

Doctors sacrifice a lot to heal others. It's OK to feel unhappy. Everyone does. But doctors also deserve to remember what makes them happy.

How do I get rid of Negative Thoughts?

To get rid of negative thoughts, you should acknowledge that you can control your feelings, no matter the situation.

Always surround yourself with thoughtful and positive people. Negativity breeds negativity.

And try to reframe the situations that make you feel negative mentally. There is always another way to see things and not just the ways that give you negative thoughts.

Always remember that finding happiness is a journey, not a destination. And finding happiness is not a journey that you should go on alone.

Do you need help avoiding physician burnout? Contact physician life coach Deanna Larson M. D. today.

Related: Perfectionism: Why Am I and How Can I Stop Being a Perfectionist