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How to be a Happy Health Practitioner – by optometrist Carina Trinh

Careers and University, Dentistry, Dietetics, Exercise Physiology / Science, Medicine, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Optometry, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, The Health Industry

So, there’s this talk that I feel extremely passionate about that I give to the new graduate optometrists who enter the workforce in NSW/ACT each year as part of Young Optometrists Inc. NSW/ACT that covers the importance of self-care for optometrists. But really, it applies to all health care practitioners.

 

Being a Health Care Practitioner

You bunch, are an incredibly generous and altruistic group of humans, with a genuine desire to help others. This being your greatest strength, also ends up being your greatest weakness. By this, I mean that you are most likely to look after others, while neglecting yourself.

Look After Yourself

It is my core belief that in order to be the best practitioner possible, you need to look after yourself first. It only makes sense that if you are healthy both mentally and physically, that you will then be able to serve others to your absolute potential. Remember this please. Your basics come first, as an optometrist, I’m going to acronym it as SEE = Sleep enough, Eat well, and Exercise.

How Dr. Google diagnosed me with Depression during University

Believe it or not, in 2008, I was struggling at university, feeling insecure and unstable. High school was an incredulously fun time for me, and I deeply felt a contrast when it came to feeling unreasonably lonely at university despite being surrounded by friends. I was struggling to keep up with the workload, failing exams, and completely doubting the point of my existence on this planet.

It wasn’t until I typed into my Google search bar, “Is it normal to cry every night?” when I realised that I was depressed. I’d been crying every night and having unhappy dreams for probably 6 months or so – although I was great at hiding it. I still get comments about how I always appeared so happy and confident during university, when in reality, they were my darkest days. Looking back, I was so lucky to have friends who were so patient with me (now, still my closest friends), and an extremely supportive boyfriend at the time (we’re no longer together, but I think very highly of him – I was a very difficult person to deal with).

What Happened Post Uni

Upon graduation, my close friend and I decided to move to Dubbo together. My first move out of home. I was absolutely terrified.

I missed my own farewell dinner before the move, and lay in bed for a week straight curled up in foetal position. For the first time in my life, I experienced heart palpitations.

The day before work started, we had a mini intro to the practice and I almost fainted in the new consultation room. I had to lay flat down on the ground. I purchased some herbal pills for anxiety at the health food shop but was too afraid to use them.

I searched for answers online and regularly read http://www.positivityblog.com/, I started journaling – but strictly only allowed myself to write positive notes. I was desperate to improve my situation as it had been four years of depression and I was sick of feeling tired and sad and anxious and lonely and crazy. Now in hindsight, I realise that this journaling is “Mindful Appreciation” whereby I give thanks and appreciate the little things in life such as having clothes that keep me warm, and a roof over my head.

Life-Changing Friends (The Three Psychologists)

We were very fortunate to move into an already established household with lovely housemates, and great neighbours who regularly invited us over for dinner. We made new friends quickly. These friends were a little different though. During most of my life, I’d only really interacted with peers of my age group and younger. At this stage of my life, I was a 23 year old new grad optometrist who admittedly, had a very sheltered upbringing. I’d enjoyed mentoring younger students during high school and uni days, but never really spent much time with those older than myself.

In Dubvegas, our friends were 27, 35, 39, 42, 60+. I’m a pretty inquisitive person – you would know this if you’d ever met me. So, I asked Psychologist Friend #1 about whether she felt “awkward” about socialising with her husband’s boss, and she replied “It doesn’t phase me”. I’d also ask questions like “How did you learn to use the washing machine so well?” and received advice that there are great forums online. My world was opening up! New perspectives, house work made easy online, Wow!

Still, I remained anxious and depressed.

My First Coffee Date with Psychologist Friend #2

This lovely lady we met, was so generous and loving, she wanted to have coffee with me. Below, is what I learnt at a sweet little cafe along Macquarie Street, Dubbo.

Frame of Reference

I opened up about my troubles, and she introduced me to the concept of “Frame of Reference” which truly opened up my eyes. “A frame of reference is a complex set of assumptions and attitudes which we use to filter perceptions to create meaning. The frame can include beliefs, schemas, preferences, values, culture and other ways in which we bias our understanding and judgment.” This made me realise that what I believe, is not necessarily true, it’s really just a construct due to my beliefs. Just because I felt that I had no friends and that I was a useless person, wasn’t necessarily true.

“Awkwardness”

I was taught that this is also just a construct. There’s actually no such thing as an awkward situation, unless you decide to make it one, or the other person does, or you label it as such. It is what it is, and you can control your situation.

My Mindfulness Journey

We’d lived in Dubvegas for over a year now, and we were out with a big bunch of friends in the Japanese Gardens that we’d made during our time. But, I still felt lonely and ignored and worthless and anxious and stuck in my mind. Pyschologist Friend #3 lay down on the grass with me and introduced me to “Mindful Observation”.

She asked me, “What can you feel right now?”

I could not think of a single thing. She gave me the example of feeling the ground underneath my back.
“What else can you feel?”

Again, wracking my brain for answers – I couldn’t think of anything. She brushed a leaf over my arm. “I guess can feel the leaf against my arm…”

She then went on to ask, “Can you feel the breeze blowing on the skin of your face? Your jacket against your skin?”

We moved onto the next sense. “What can you hear? What can you smell? What can you taste?”

This was the beginning of conscious mindfulness for me. Over time, I’ve continued to practice:

  1. Mindful Appreciation – Journaling about how lucky I am to be surrounded by such caring human beings in my family, my friends, and my teams.
  2. Mindful Observation – Closely examining objects and the environment, such as the intricate details of each vein of each leaf of each tree, along with the texture, and the smell.
  3. Mindful Awareness – Taking notice of small things that I’m doing such as realising how I’ve been blessed with a functional hand that allows me to type and express my thoughts right now.
  4. Mindful Immersion – Smelling all the different plants and flowers on the way to work, noticing the multicultural kaleidoscope of people on the train, feeling the rhythm of my joggers against the ground as I place one foot in front of the other from Bondi to Bronte.

Analytical Meditation

Mindfulness is a form of meditation. A recent realisation made apparent with the help of a colleague of mine, is that I’ve been regularly practicing another form of meditation called “Analytical Meditation”.

I’ll bet most of you are quite familiar with the habit of over-analysing. It can be pretty detrimental if used wrongly in the form of rumination (Guy Winch: Why we all need to practice emotional first aid). However, when over-analysing is utilised in the right way, it can be your tool to success in meditation.

“In this type of meditation one uses reasoning,” the Dalai Lama explains. “Reasoning can enhance positive states of mind and overcome the attitudes, thoughts and emotions that lead to suffering and dissatisfaction. In analytic meditation, one brings about inner change through systematic investigation and analysis. This is a bit hard to explain briefly, but essentially it allows you to reason and investigate in a way that reduces the force of your anger.

What We Don’t Want

I’d like to leave you with this statement from Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, “I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success”.

Interested in a Retreat to Hone in on Your Mindfulness?

There you have it, a little peek of my own personal Mindfulness Journey. We at Young Optometrists Inc. (YO) are here to support optometrists in having the most positive start to their career in NSW/ACT. We believe that mental health is crucial and are working together with Susan Ang on a YO-GA Retreat in Bali for Easter 2018. This is open to all health practitioners and friends, so if you’re keen on finding out more, please send an email to express your interest to y.optoms@gmail.com.

 

Carina TrinhCarina Trinh mainly identifies herself as an optometrist as Dresden Optics where she fiercely agrees with their ethos, but also thoroughly enjoys and finds meaning through working with teams to organise activities and services that benefit new graduate optometrists in the start to their careers through Young Optometrists Inc. NSW/ACT, working on the profession through Optometry NSW/ACT, doing her small part through Eyes4Everest, and recently working with her Dad to import quality South-East Asian food products into Australia. She is an absolute lover of nature, and food. Website: www.yoptoms.com

 

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