Breathe in . . . and relax

Consultant psychologist Dr Michael Sinclair invites you to explore the ways that you may usually respond to your own stress experience and to take a pragmatic approach in considering whether these ‘coping strategies’ are working well for you, or not.

Some of the very real stressors that come with working as a medical consultant I highlighted in last’s month’s article. Unfortun­ately, many doctors don’t own up to feeling stressed or, worse still, that they aren’t coping too well.

This is understandable; however, this is also a real problem. Attempting to hide and suppress our stress is likely to exacerbate it.

Research from an arm of psychology called contextual behavioural science, shows us that engaging in behaviour that functions as a means of experiential avoidance is likely to lead to more suffering in life.