In a recent PW Podcast, Editorial Board member Alex McDonald, MD, spoke with Jay Winner, MD, of the Sansum Clinic, about stress reduction techniques for clinicians and their patients.
PW: How can we address stress in healthcare?
Dr. Winner: The first thing is that mindful – ness is not an excuse for intolerable work con – ditions. We have, in a lot of ways, a broken health system. So how do we improve our own wellbeing?
People have the misconception that mindfulness is all about that hour and a half yoga class or that hour meditation. But there are things that you can do in seconds to reduce your level of stress. Also, stress is not the bad guy. There is good stress and there is bad stress.
How do you help patients reduce stress?
The power of just listening is so therapeutic. I had one patient with chronic back pain who’d had surgeries and injections and med – ications and seen all kinds of specialists. She came in with a pain flare-up, and I just sat there and listened. I made some suggestions and validated that she was in pain. I didn’t feel like I did anything, really, but the patient said: “Thank you so much. No one’s listened to me like that before.” I was struck by the power of that connection. That’s why we went into this field. But that’s fulfilling for patients, too.
Another example would be if you have a patient with hypertension. They swear their blood pressure’s always normal at home. I teach them how to do a diaphragmatic breath and a short meditation. This can lower their blood pressure, or, even if it doesn’t come down, they feel a lot better.
What is the overall goal of mindfulness?
A lot of mindfulness is living more fully. It’s changing your relationships with your thoughts. You stop, take a moment, and notice a thought — “I really need to eat junk food.”
Then, you take a breath and see what makes up the desire. What are the thoughts and physical sensations that make up the desire? If you can meet those desires, those needs, with a sense of ease, with curiosity, inter – est, appreciation, and acceptance, then you learn. “Oh, this is how I can notice that whole desire come and go without having to respond to it.” You can respond more wisely, instead of habitually reacting
