Posted by leslye on June 7, 2000, at 11:09:02
In reply to Any med drs out there dealing with Gad/depression?, posted by marc on June 5, 2000, at 19:49:30
Marc - I'm a doc, and went to medschool age 31 after having another career in my 20s, was a single mom, and I've fought with episodes of major depression and life long anxiety. Was lucky that I only had one episode of depression in med school - but I have to tell you there are an amazing percentage of med students who have mental health issues - this is a normal part of life!!!One thing that became clear to me and my older med student friends was that many of us had ADD(of my group of 7 close friends, 3 have been formally diagnosed with add, one with bipolar disorder, and the other 3 HAVE add, they just live with it!) I was not dagnosed until 2 years into residency - and once I got on the right med (serzone for anxiety and ritalin for my hyeractive impulsive side) my life has really spun into focus. I'm a pdoc specializing in treating adults with add and geriatric pts, and am starting up my own private practice. My older friends have all done well (one was a beautician before she went back to college in her 30s) and now is a family doc in good private practice - another older friend who was 41 on graduating iis in the marine corp. We have all had to deal with family issues, deaths, marraiges, and the stress of the incredible demands of med school - what pulled us through?
1 - connections - mutual support was incredibly important. It's hard to reach out when you are down, but well worth the effort
2 - therapy - I (and many of my friends) had a supportive therapist who had the ability to look at my life from a more reasonable (ie non-depressed)point of view and help me pull myself together.
3 - med - when the tough stop sleeping, the tired take their meds! Since I had to deal not only with med school, but 2 kids (and then a new husband, and then a 3rd child!!!) I was very sensitive to levels of impairment - lack of sleep is the most harmful thing for me - and it is usually directly tied to my anxiety levels. Prior to med school I had done well on low dose pamelor, but the SE (mostly monster constipation) were troublesome - serzone plus ritalin is the best for me ...Get recs from someone else who has seen a doc - it's hard to find a good pdoc just from the yellow pages...
4 - exercise your butt off! - I mowed my lawn with a fly wheel mower, walked miles, and played games with my kids. Med school never left me with time for a formal exercise program, but I am a naturally active person, and I just make good use of things I have to do anyway - recently, life has gotten a bit too sedentary, so we got a dog - he's my new exercise program!!!
5 - again, regular sleep -this is key - you cannot maintain emotional equilibrium or absorb all the stuff you are learning unless your sleep is sufficient - if this is disturbed, it is a sign to seek professional help if the exercise/support thing doesn't help
6 - watch your diet! you deserve good food - if you can buy it out of a vending machine, it probably isn't helping you! Less sugar usually means more even moods, and less sleepiness after meals.
Marc, I know I've written alot, but I want to let you know that there are many professionals out there who have stuggled with these issues, and gotten through - and used the experiences to be better docs!!! Good Luck - leslye
poster:leslye
thread:36192
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000603/msgs/36424.html