Applying mindfulness to work-related stress

Murdoch & Eagles (2007) describe a range of stressors and stress-reducing strategies identified by consultant psychiatrists. Davoren & McCauley (2007) rightly note that stressful relationships with colleagues may also be problematic.

As a profession, we traditionally focus on managing, overcoming, getting rid of and controlling symptoms in our patients. In applying a similarly active ‘stress-busting’ approach to the remediation of our professional woes, there is a danger that the value of simply adopting a mindful stance may be overlooked. This is particularly relevant with respect to those stressors which lie beyond our immediate control (e.g. inadequately resourced teams, understaffing, government policy, unpredictable on-call duties). Mindfulness involves the cultivation of compassionate, non-judgemental awareness and acceptance of the present moment – a calm, purposeful and reflective presence which can be applied to all aspects of medical practice (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). It fosters the facility to witness events (internal and external), as opposed to becoming caught up in their intensity. Habitual and reflexive reactions to stressors often compound and exacerbate the original difficulty many-fold. The mindful practitioner can respond more skilfully to situations as they arise, rather than reacting automatically in accordance with conditioned behavioural patterns. One could argue that this is a prerequisite not merely for stress-free clinical practice but for good living. Perhaps the development of resilience in a profession increasingly fraught with stressors begins ‘with the self as the first… object of knowledge’ (Aronowitz, 1998).