“Chris” was well into his doctoral program.
At a critical point in the process, he found that he was unable to keep up with the rigorous demands of his program. One complication was that his clinical placement was a two-hour drive from where he lived. Chris wasn’t getting enough sleep and was on the road 4-hours a day.
He was also experiencing conflict with his preceptor. Even though he had always been an exceptional student, he was told he would be failing his clinical assignment. Failing academically was so foreign to him that it seemed like the end of the world.
Chris viewed this set-back as a total failure, something he believed he couldn’t bear. In this frame of mind, Chris saw suicide as the only course of action. Due to his medical training, he was able to select the most effective “medication” to do the job.
He was in his apartment about to carry out his plan when a couple of fellow students happened to knock on his door for a visit. Since the students didn’t know what Chris was planning, they just engaged him in casual conversation.
Thankfully, that interruption was enough to cause him to rethink his plan. He reconsidered his options and contacted me for help.
For me, it is a privilege to work with clients and help them navigate these exceedingly difficult waters. Chris has since graduated, is licensed and working in what he calls “a dream job”
Many healthcare students are “overachievers.” The personality of an overachiever often includes intolerance of “failures”. In addition, the systems in healthcare feature increasing demands of students and working practitioners.
As the demands mount, the overachieving individual will often redouble efforts to succeed without regard to personal cost.
Through my experiences I have noticed behavioral patterns that are consistent in practitioners-in-training. These patterns can contribute to engaging in self-harm and other unhealthy behaviors:
▶ Poor sleep hygiene: For example, Chris was sleeping about 3 three hours a night for weeks at a time.
▶ Poor eating habits: Students are so absorbed in their work and feel so pressured that they may go for days without eating properly. One client reported living on Granola bars.
▶ Social isolation: Students often feel so pressured by their academic and clinical obligations that they become laser-focused on keeping up. Consequently, they isolate themselves.
▶ Lack of healthy coping strategies: Many healthcare students have enjoyed a sustained history of academic success. Not having experienced setbacks earlier in life often means that they didn’t have the chance to develop healthy coping strategies. Consequently, they are less resilient in the face of mounting pressure.
▶ Lack of insight: They can be so focused on their outward goals that they lose any sense of self-awareness. Instead, they “push down” warning emotions with the hope that they’ll just get better on their own. In addition, they don’t have the skills to accurately assess what’s going on internally. The lack of insight prevents them from appreciating how much trouble they are actually in. Without that insight they continue to slide toward a crash.
For healthcare students and practitioners, consciously monitoring these factors and enhancing their internal insight skills can help them to remain healthy as they navigate the significant demands and challenges of their professions.
The absolute best to you all…