Can we encourage joy rather than stave off depression?
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
I am writing this message after visiting the happiest place on earth (no, not Disneyland): the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Trekking through the velvet green valleys of this remote Himalayan kingdom, yak herders greeted me with wide smiles. The reverberating chant of monks residing in cliffside monasteries and the sound of the colorful prayer flags flapping in the wind are kindling for spiritual renewal.
Landlocked by China and India, Bhutan is the birthplace of “Gross National Happiness.” Bhutan covets happiness above all else and happiness is considered more important than wealth. Every policy must pass a happiness filter to be enacted.
Previous page: A typical Bhutanese house in Kingathang, a small village in Bhutan’s Phobjikha Valley. All photos by Aileen Wetzel.
Every five years Bhutan deploys a Gross National Happiness survey to all 700,000 of its citizens. They ask questions such as “How happy did you feel yesterday?” and “How often do you practice meditation?” and “How many hours do you sleep and how many hours do you work?” Some questions might startle an American: How often do you quarrel with your family? How long do you stay away from them? Do you trust your neighbors?
Unfortunately, Americans are rarely asked what can be done to help them be happier. That’s especially true of physicians — in fact, we’re often urged to ask colleagues if they’re OK and not in a state of despair, the complete opposite of the approach in Bhutan.
We’ve talked a lot over the past few years about checking in on our physician colleagues. But often we seem more concerned about measuring their levels of burnout and stress than we are about their overall happiness. It’s a shame that our culture has led us to uncover the negative rather than encourage the positives in life.
Our Joy of Medicine program actually does both. Resources available through Joy of Medicine such as free sessions with counselors can help you identify or avoid sources of burnout and stress, but they can also provide direction on how to find more balance in your life on and off the job. We often hear how the opportunity to talk freely and openly about the challenges of practicing medicine, in peer groups hosted by our physician members, can be transforming and in some cases career-saving. Whether you’re a solo practitioner or a member of one of the area’s largest medical groups, it can be tough to know where you can find a trusting, nurturing place where you can discuss problems with people who have shared experiences.
That’s what Joy of Medicine offers, and all resources are available to you through your membership in SSVMS. We recently conducted a survey and discovered that while physicians in our region are happier than the national average — something we believe is evidence of the success of Joy of Medicine — there are still many physicians who are struggling daily, either from professional or personal pressures. We want to help you help yourself, but it’s up to you to take the first steps to make use of what is available to you. To get started, visit www.joyofmedicine.org.
The Joy of Medicine Annual Summit, one of our most popular events, will be held in Sacramento this year on Saturday, September 30 at Sequoia at the Cannery. This year’s presentations include “De-escalation and Communication Techniques When Working with Patients and Families” by Andrew Smith, PhD; “From Healing Heroes to Distrusted Adversaries: Recovering and Healing After COVID” from Elizabeth Morrison, PhD; and "Self-Advocacy to Create Joy and Meaning in Medicine” from John Chuck, MD. To register for this free event, which often sells out early, click here.
It would be wonderful if we could all experience the same level of joy that’s part of the culture in Bhutan. We strive for a world in which you can, as a physician, feel rewarded for how you use your talents and that your goal is satisfaction rather than survival. We’re working toward that goal by fighting for proper reimbursement rates, reducing administrative burdens, improving the EHR, and supporting policies that keep your patients and your practice healthy.
Unfortunately, it’s not a perfect world and happiness is often the last thing lawmakers, regulators, insurers and even health systems have in mind when they make decisions that affect you. While we can’t offer the serenity of yaks ambling along rocky paths and the calming chants of monks echoing across mountainsides, we do have the next best thing available to bring you mindfulness and peace: Joy of Medicine. I urge you to take advantage of all that if offers and I hope to see you at our Annual Summit in September.
