Laura F. Martin, MD, Associate Medical Director, Colorado Physician Health Program (CPHP)

“I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.”
– Emo Philips

I love this quote. Not only because I am a psychiatrist and partial to all things brain, but also because I tend to live in my head. And all too often I have believed everything my brain tells me: that I can meet unrelenting standards if I just work harder or more efficiently, that perfectionistic standards are a healthy growth mindset, or that others’ needs are more important than my own. 

While certainly the privilege and ability to practice my healing art and witness how the lives of patients improve over time will always have a profound and positive impact on my wellbeing, often the other associated standards of success such as the administrative aspects of practicing medicine, seeking out professional recognition and financial success have led me down more dangerous roads for my wellbeing. The daily grind would lead to over-prioritizing time spent at work, thinking about work and pursuing goals that weren’t making me happier like I thought they would. My values were misaligned and my brain kept telling me that working harder was the answer.

I have since been able to carve out a career that has given me the time to work on improving my wellbeing, which has largely involved the awareness of the lies my brain was telling me and practicing new behaviors. My first step was recognizing that my (and your) brain was fallible. A great visual example of this is the shepard tables:

The left table looks longer and skinnier, right? So wrong. If you don’t believe me, measure it. Our minds can be full of tricks and misperceptions. However, as the tables below show us, just because we think a thing is true doesn’t mean that it is true. I was introduced to these tables in an outstanding and free Yale University course on the Science of Wellbeing by Dr. Laurie Santos, accessed through Coursera. It was an investment of time to watch the lectures, but the investment was absolutely worth it to better understand the various traps that can lead to life dissatisfaction. Plus, she reviews the evidence-based interventions that work to improve wellbeing, including restorative sleep, exercise, gratitude practices, savoring experiences, meditation, random acts of kindness, using our strengths at work, and social connection. None of these interventions are likely a surprise to you; this is the stuff of a good life. I enjoy my life more that I took the time to identify what wasn’t working for me and to put in place things that would, taking back my life from the darker side of the practice of medicine.

If you or someone you know is feeling out of balance, dissatisfied, or burned out, please consider what it might take to re-align things. Please also consider that it can be invaluable to ask a loved one, coach, therapist, physician or someone at CPHP for their thoughts as they can sometimes see when our brains are tricking us. I have taken advantage of all these sources of supports at different times in my life and am the better for it.