Makes me wonder how doctors go through this time and time again and not want to off themselves. I certainly would not be able to handle this.
Simple; we just cut the part of soul that is afflicted and store them away. After doing that for so much, however, you may lose your ability to empathy.
Makes me wonder how doctors go through this time and time again and not want to off themselves. I certainly would not be able to handle this.
You have to shut out your work from your private life and never take something home with you. If something is bothering you, talk to your coworkers if possible, if you don't want that, tell your significant other or friends you can trust about your feelings. This can be a great help but if you need them, there are psychiatrists.
Here in Germany we have a so called "Crisis Intervention Team" (Kriseninterventionsteam/KIT) to take care of people and especially doctors and paramedics involved in tragic events. They mostly consist of specially trained paramedics and firefighters and can help their colleagues cope with a lot of things by caring for them right after the incident. If you have a similar institution in your country and you are involved in something that will most likely scar you for the rest of your life, do not hesitate to ask for their services.
I had some co-workers who started to develop some mild PTSD. Partially because they weren't prepared for the job, but at the same time I can't blame them. One of the best prevention measures are good friends who notice when something is wrong and aren't afraid to help you confront it. Although in my opinion, most psychiatry is useless against PTSD, especially those that rely primarily on prescriptions to substitute for intimate interview. In the end, it comes down to the victim fixing themselves and figuring out a mindset that will give a proper perspective on the traumatizing memory.
Some people also have an innate pragmatic view that some people unfortunately just label as inconsiderate or desensitized. It can be difficult for most, but the best way to handle with tragedy in my opinion is to understand that it does happen, and all we can do is be the best at our particular profession to prevent it from unnecessarily happening. Religion (a philosophy) is probably the best way to be prepared for trauma in my opinion, but in the end it comes down to our fortitude.
Makes me wonder how doctors go through this time and time again and not want to off themselves. I certainly would not be able to handle this.
My best friend from about middle school on was from a family of doctors. I also tended to see a lot of doctors for various stupid reasons growing up, so if there's one thing I learned about them, it's this:
Doctors are just plain weird people. They totally harden themselves to it all, and never seem to have any emotions at all, and many of them seem to be utterly lacking in any sense of humor in the least to the point where they would stare at any T-shirt I wore with a joke on it for like two minutes, then say "I don't get it."
It's because of this that I've never understood that nurse fetish (although it sort of died mid-ninties), since my impression of a nurse was a 50-year-old chainsmoker who weighed 400 lbs and had a psychopathic disregard for your suffering.