So how is it that the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 can be passed in Queensland Parliament on 26th February and mean that there is still a requirement for treating doctors, in all states and territories except WA, to in some cases disclose the medical conditions of other practitioners to their regulatory board for review? Couldn’t this have the unintended consequence of deterring health professionals from seeking the treatment they require?

Dr Bruce Willet, Chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has said that the Bill “creates the problem it is trying to solve.”

“It is important that doctors and health practitioners can receive the healthcare they need, rather than feel the need to hide their health concerns due to fear of being reported by their treating practitioner.

“Removing this mandatory reporting requirement, which prevents registered health practitioners from seeking healthcare, will improve patient safety.

“The problem is that mandatory reporting legislation is very complex and clinicians feel they can’t afford to take the risk of not reporting everyone who presents with anything that could be possibly related to an impairment.

“And a lot of health professionals, not just doctors – we’re also talking about nurses and physios and others – are being reported where they don’t need to be because their treating clinicians feel under a great deal of pressure.

Federal President of the Australian Medical Association Dr Tony Bartone said that “being a doctor is a stressful vocation. We deal with life-and-death situations every day. We are only human, and our work takes its toll.

“When doctors and medical students find themselves needing professional help when they are unwell, often caused by the stressful work they are doing, they can be deterred by national laws that compel their treating doctor to report them to authorities as ‘impaired’.

“This can lead to them fearing that they will spend months, even years, fighting possible sanctions, including losing their registration, for simply seeking the help that their patients ask for, and receive, every day without judgment or repercussions.

“Any barriers to treatment for medical practitioners, real or perceived, must be removed and not hinder the same timely access to care that we as doctors fight for on behalf of our patients.

“Doctors and medical students must be accorded the same rights as any other patient – to be able to receive confidential, high-quality health care without fear of professional ramifications.

“While the fear of ramifications may be perceived, it still remains a palpable barrier to seeking help for many medical practitioners.

“We are still losing too many colleagues every year because they do not feel confident that they can seek help without risking their careers.

“We need consistent laws across the nation to ensure that all doctors and medical students can feel confident to seek medical help for all conditions.

How is it that a health professional such as a physiotherapist may treat patients who present with mental health conditions appropriately for whatever their physical condition is, but may be deterred from seeking mental health care themselves?

With the prevalence of mental health conditions rising, shouldn’t it be more important than ever that we know more about what health insurance providers are offering and whether mental health care is part of their plans? And shouldn’t health professionals be able to access whatever treatment they require without fear of repercussions?

The fact that the Bill was passed in parliament early in the year may come as a blow to those seeking change in 2019. Australian Psychological Society (APS) CEO Frances Mirabelli said that the “start of a new year can be a time of soul searching for many Australians, as they confront issues that come to the surface in their personal or work lives. This can feel painful, but it is not uncommon.”

President of the Australian Medical Association’s Queensland Branch Dr Dilip Dhupelia has said that the legislation does not go far enough to ensure that doctors and medical students can seek the treatment that they need, when they need it, without worrying that they will be reported to authorities and possibly lose their right to continue studying or to practise.

For support:

• For 24/7 support in Australia you can contact beyondblue on 1300 22 4636
• For urgent assistance call Lifeline on 13 11 14
• The AMA Victoria Peer Support Service is an anonymous and confidential helpline provided for doctors by doctors and is available 8am to 11pm, 7 days a week on 1300 853 338

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I find that one of the biggest issues with mindfulness is that there are a lot of people out there claiming to be mindfulness experts, teachers or gurus who are really just creating “McMindfulness”. It’s like the fast-food version where you know it’s been processed and doesn’t really resemble the ingredients from which it was made. Yes, it’s still “food” but you can tell that it’s not the natural and organic experience of food that you’re really looking for. Don’t get me wrong, some of these “McMindfulness” teachers have good intentions. That’s where it can become a very confusing journey.

This video here is the best I’ve ever seen on looking at what mindfulness is in a succinct way. In it, Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “the awareness that arises by paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally.”

I think it’s the “non-judgementally” bit where it’s so easy to get caught up. It’s as though we think that if we just stopped having judgemental thoughts that we’d be “all good”. So then we try to supress those judgemental thoughts. I did this A LOT at the beginning of my mindfulness journey. I have also spoken with a great number of people on my mindfulness journey who are judging themselves for having judgements.

Where mindfulness really comes in is watching the judgements go by, and just noticing them. As in “oh look, a judgement” and letting it pass without judging it, or judging yourself for having a judgemental thought. It has nothing at all to do with the absence of judgements, as these will continue to arise and pass, arise and pass, arise and pass, on and on, forever and ever.

So how does this all relate to practice as a health professional?

The judgements we are talking about here are not the clinical judgements we as clinicians make every day. I’m talking about the stuff that happens in our interactions with patients that really aren’t helpful.

So let’s go with an example that’s close to home for me. The scenario being that I’d put on quite a bit of weight and was feeling very self-conscious about it. How is that going to play out when someone who is obese comes in for a consultation?

I have had so many experiences around this over the years, most of them in the form of judgements coming up in my mind. Anything from “how could they let themselves get like that?” to “they should go and get surgery” to “don’t they know how to look after themselves?” to “they are so ugly” and “how can they live with themselves being like that?”.

So really I was just projecting my own “stuff” onto these patients. It’s a pretty normal human thing to do, and it happens all the time. Having these judgemental thoughts made me very anxious and awkward, because they were feeding the belief that I was a horrible person and an awful health practitioner, because we’re supposed to treat everyone with respect.

However, over the course of my mindfulness journey I realised that the issue wasn’t with these thoughts themselves. It’s that I was judging myself for having these thoughts. The day I realised that was when everything really changed.

It occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, I’d be able to bring compassion to myself for having these judgemental thoughts instead of judging myself for having those judgemental thoughts. That is quite a distinction, and, I feel where many of those claiming to be “gurus” but area really just perpetuating McMindfulness get it so very wrong.

So many of these “gurus” spout ideals that we need to change our thoughts to be more positive so that we can be “happy”. However, once you really get into a deeper mindfulness practice, there is the realisation that the joy of simply being is always there, regardless of whether whatever is happening in the present moment is pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. It’s the simple joy of being alive and actually having these experience that flows like a river in experience itself.

This leads me into another way in which not only mindfulness, but the practice of meditation is often misconstrued. There seems to be this myth that it’s all going to be sunshine and lollipops. That you “should” be feeling more relaxed after you meditate.

The reality is, that when the mind is really still during meditation, sometimes the most painful memories come up with an invitation for them to be explored. At 4 of the 5 meditation retreats I’ve attended in the last 12 months, I have cried. No, wept. No, sobbed uncontrollably. Sometimes in the meditation hall when everyone else is quiet. It’s just the way in which my body lets go of stuff. When the mind has really settled it’s given me the opportunity to look at some of the experiences I’ve had in a new light, and let go of the old way of seeing them. Inevitably this process can get pretty messy.

Letting go of these old ways of seeing things has changed the way I see myself and interact with others and the world. Being in the present moment as it is, without some story about how it should be or how I want it to be is an entirely different way of practice as a health professional. In many cases it has allowed me to have a much deeper listening of what the patient is communicating during our interaction, and allows me to be a lot clearer in my communication.

So yes, meditation and mindfulness practice has helped me to find a greater sense of calmness in so many situations, but that has been the by-product, not necessarily the aim.

I hope you enjoy our Mindful May theme this month and see it as part of your exploration as to whether taking up the practice might be right for you.

Image:Photo by Deniz Altindas on Unsplash

More articles on My Health Career:

• Choosing a business coach – by Amanda Griffiths, founder MHC
• From freaking out to freaking awesome – how mindfulness transformed my practice – by Amanda Griffiths
• AMA Summit on medical workforce: Too many doctors, few training opportunities in communities that need them most

The post Is mindfulness “right” for you? Here’s how it transformed my practice – by Amanda Griffiths, founder MHC appeared first on My Health Career.