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WELLNESS MATTERS

American Heart Association Early Career Guest Blog

Sherry-Ann Brown MD PhD FAHA

WELLNESS

The World Health Organization defines wellness as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. The terms in this definition inspire similar words such as continuous (state), whole (complete), tangible (physical) and intangible (mental), as well as togetherness or community (social).

 PANDEMIC WELLNESS

Indeed, during the pandemic, we often say or hear, “We are all in this together”. The global community has rallied around each other to get through the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) well. In the midst of a nation in turmoil with pandemics juxtaposed (coronavirus and racial and ethnic inequities), we find ourselves in the middle of it all as physicians.

SAFETY & WELLNESS

Along with everyone else in medical authority, we encourage those around us and all we serve to distance physically more so than socially. We want people to remain social, to enhance wellness. Yet, we need that socialization to be safe and physically distant, to foster tangible wellness.

 WELLNESS NOT CANCELLED

We encourage everyone to recognize that conversations, relationships, love, songs, reading, hope, joy, getting outdoors, music, family, and self-care should not and will not be canceled. This is the good stuff. The intangible components of wellness.

WELLNESS HEROES

So many of us in health care are sacrificing this period of our lives or in fact our very lives so that our patients can be whole. This altruism that led us here is continuous and indestructible by the #rona. Many of us turn to visual wellness inspired by COVID-19 to help capture the essence and sentiments of these challenging times. Art and other forms of creative expression of what’s inside of us or in society can motivate us to see more, be more, and serve more.

These matters at hand are crucial to help maintain our state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. If we are honest with ourselves, we recognize that most of us live at best in a state of incomplete well-being. Yet, we can stand together against cancellation of our will and empower each other on this journey to wellness. It’s never been a destination. It’s always been a process that we continue to learn daily.

 

“The views, opinions and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your personal health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”

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Wellness Amid a Pandemic

I think about wellness often and the unique aspects of being a physician that make preserving our wellbeing even more important. Of course, this COVID-19 pandemic has tested all of us and the things we turn to for wellness and our escape from medicine, may not be available to us right now. After work dinner and drinks, early morning group fitness classes, and young professional networking events have been replaced by Netlfix© and dine-in, home workouts, and Zoom “wine” downs. We all had to dig down deep inside to find new venues for wellness and if we were lucky, our institutions provided resources to help us during this crazy time. What this pandemic taught me was that there are things I still needed to work on to build my resilience even further- and I am totally okay with that. Working on ourselves to better ourselves should be a continuous goal- everyone has room for improvement.

As a single woman living in the city, my nights and weekends were always filled with social events. I felt very isolated and realized how much of my free time was being occupied by my friends and the events I attended as part of my wellness routines. I miss my morning classes at bootcamp and will never complain again when my alarm wakes me up at 4:25am to get to class- whenever that may be. Some of the things that have helped me are FaceTime and Houseparty dates with friends and family, walking outside on the few sunny days Boston has graced us with, trying to eat healthy when I can, in-home workouts which I am not a fan of to be completely honest, but most important, was being vulnerable with friends, family, colleagues, and even patients who asked how I was doing during our virtual visits. I met with a Wellness Coach provided through my institution and the lightbulb moment for me was when he reminded me to be kind to myself. I remember seeing posts all over social media about how we should be building businesses, getting in shape, writing grants, or checking off any other number of “goals” because we have “so much time” and feeling bad, but I got over that. In the middle of this crisis, all our lives have been disrupted, some much more so than others, and we are all doing the absolute best we can. I remind myself to be grateful and I started writing specific things down that I am grateful for each day.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and as physicians, we shy away from talking about such things. It may be that we are supposed to be superheroes who are invincible, or it may be that if we did seek help and received a diagnosis we would have to declare it on some medical state licensing applications, or we may just be afraid. Mental health is one of the many aspects of overall wellbeing and there are many ways to reach out for help for those who need it. COVID-19 has had many casualties and we must guard our mental health during this pandemic. Find what works for you and do it. Reach out when you need to and remember that it is totally okay to not be okay. Protect your mind, body, and soul as these are key aspects of our overall wellbeing. I feel optimistic about our future. When we come out on the other side of this let us take all the lessons we learned and remember to never take things such as human contact for granted again.

Stay safe and stay healthy.

“The views, opinions and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your personal health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”