Dentistry is one of the most stressful medical professions impacting both mentally and physically. The suicide rate among dentists is unfortunately quite high. They are more prone to coronary heart disease, psycho-neurotic disorders, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure than the general population. In short, if a dentist does not control his burnout and stress, it can potentially be lethal. In a recent study, eleven percent of dentists were diagnosed with depression, which is twice the general population.
Potential symptoms of high stress include:
- Irregular meal patterns
- Irregular work hours
- Lack of concentration
- Lack of sleep
- Constant irritation or anger
- Teeth grinding
- Suicidal thoughts
- Patient anxiety
- Economic pressure
- Constant tiredness
- No social life or hobbies
- Constantly relying on sugar and coffee for energy
- Consuming alcohol or smoking to bring down stress.
Controlling Dentistry Burnout
- You must learn to let go. It’s not worth poisoning yourself into burnout.
- Improving the work environment for the sake of your employees and yourself. Be less critical of others, even of yourself.
- Work more sensible hours. Stop skipping meals. Have a leisurely break after lunch, like a short walk.
- Creating a million-dollar practice is not everything. Money often costs too much. People often ignore their health over wealth all their life, then spend all that wealth on their poor health as they grow old.
- Find a trusted individual to let your heart out.
- Yoga is a great energy booster and a stress buster. Try it.
- Take a short holiday regularly. They are amazing.
- Join a physical exercise program, like a local health club or start swimming.
- Patients can sometimes be hostile or give you excessive anxiety. If you are unable to handle the stress yourself, talk to a fellow dentist for tips.
- Learning how to better handle patient anxiety and hostility.
- If nothing works, talk to a Psychiatrist, it is completely normal.
- Getting worried because of too many accounts receivable? Outsource your dental past-due accounts to a collections agency and let them handle these tough patients.
- Have a social life. Spend time with friends, or make new friends.
- Feeling envy by any chance? It is extremely common for people to get engulfed by Social Media. If you are getting adversely influenced by watching those rosy photos posted by other people on social/digital media, it’s time to take a break from those Apps. That portrayal of rosy life anyway does not convey the true picture of other people’s life, it’s just what they want to show others.
A debt collection agency can at least reduce your stress related to past-due accounts. If you need a good debt collections agency for your accounts receivable: Contact us
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9526243
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5184387/