Being a doctor can be tough. Burnout rates among doctors are 48% (AMA), stress, anxiety and suicide rates are higher than the general population, and low morale and cynicism are common. You are called on to make several decisions a day and you are going to get some of them wrong. That can have repercussions for you, and for your patients. Coping with that stress can be unbearable. In addition to the challenge of patient care, you have to deal with conflict with colleagues, and occasionally, outright hostility.

How can you sustain the enthusiasm of being a doctor over a long career, look after yourself, make better decisions, avoid conflict with colleagues, and be happier?

Here are five ways self-knowledge can help. The links are to relevant sections in the HappierMe app.

1. Manage your own mental health

Stress and anxiety are automatic reactions from our thinking to external triggers. This is not easy to see because our mind assumes external events are responsible for how we feel. Though the trigger is on the outside, the reaction is on the inside. We may not be able to change the trigger, but we can be in control of our reactions, and self-knowledge helps us to do this. We begin with exercises to calm our mind so there is a pause between the trigger and the reaction, and then explore where our reactions come from. This understanding can put us in charge of how we feel, and can empower us to respond to our challenges with a mind that is calm.

Explore the stress and anxiety modules to find out more.

2. Make better decisions

Doctors make several decisions a day. We assume it's a straightforward case of applying our knowledge to the patient in front of us, so increasing our knowledge will help us make good decisions.

It's much more complex than that.

Behind all the decisions we make lie our many emotions like stress and anxiety. For example, stress can limit our capacity to think clearly and result in bad decisions. Or fear can make us order unnecessary investigations, or worry about our own reputation when making decisions. Understanding the various emotional drivers at work in the background can help us make smarter decisions that serve our patients.

Our self-interest is always operating in the background, often without our awareness. In any situation it can push us to make decisions that suit us, or the hospital, more than they suit the patient. Understanding this can help us live with greater integrity and put the patient's interests first.

Our ego can make it difficult for us to admit we may not know something, own up to making a mistake, or question our own decisions when challenged, and this can result in poor decisions.

Explore the Making Better Decisions module to find out more.

3. Have healthy relationships

The largest survey of healthcare staff in the world (NHS Staff Survey 2024) reports high levels of interpersonal conflict (52%) and bullying (18%) among healthcare staff. Poor interpersonal relationships lead to high levels of stress and anxiety, dysfunctional departments, poor patient care and reduced productivity. Ego clashes are common.

The more we understand ourselves, the easier it is to understand others, because we realise that deep down we are the same human being. For example, all our opinions, beliefs and prejudices come from the many unconscious conditioning influences we are not aware of. We become attached to them and regard anyone who thinks or behaves differently to our 'norm' as wrong. Once we realise others are the same, we can meet people who are different with greater compassion, and this can boost collaboration.

All the communication skills we need to have successful relationships with patients and colleagues are enhanced by self-knowledge. Listening with curiosity and without judgment is easier when we realise our mind is actually doing the opposite, and pausing to ask how something will be received is easier with self-knowledge.

To find out more, explore the modules on Conditioning, Communication, and Relationships.

4. Stay fresh. Stay positive.

If we use the profession as a way of meeting our emotional needs for validation, importance, stimulation, wealth and power, we will gradually lose the love for what we do and become cynical. Or we think we need to work harder and harder to 'get ahead', and this can lead to stress and burnout.

Understanding our various emotional needs helps us to avoid this, as many of them operate beyond our awareness.

Comparing ourselves with others is part of being human, but can lead to feelings of envy, anger and low self-esteem, or push us to undermine others. Becoming aware of this helps us to be content with who we are and what we have, focus our energy on looking after patients and get our joy from doing that.

Our mind is wired to look for threats and protect itself, and this can lead to a negative mindset, without our awareness. We may think it's the only way to be. Seeing the glass 'half empty' can make us complain about everything, overlook the positives in any situation and make ourselves miserable. Seeing this clearly in ourselves can help us shift our mindset to a more positive one.

To find out more, explore the modules on Comparison, Emotional Needs, and a Positive Mindset.

5. Be happier

We all want to be happy and often assume our happiness comes from the outside, through all our activities in the world, and that we will be happy if we get what we want. Doctors are no exception. If we don't get what we want, we can become unhappy.

Happy doctors are more productive and boost everyone's morale. Unhappy ones do the opposite.

Our happiness depends on many factors: our mental health, our relationships, our work, our mindset, any addictions we may have and how we manage our emotions. If we are unhappy in any one of these areas, our happiness takes a hit and we can become frustrated, and this can impact our decision making, our mental health and our performance.

Self-knowledge can help us understand that happiness is an inside job, and we can be in charge of our own happiness by understanding what gets in the way of being happy, developing a positive mindset, managing our expectations, being content with who we are, and developing a calm mind.

To find out more, explore the modules on Happiness, A Calm Mind, and Work.

Explore these links

1. HappierMe Website
2. How to manage your own mental health
3. Subscribe to our newsletter
4. Follow us on social media
5. Join our Facebook group and LinkedIn Group

Dr Manoj Krishna is a former surgeon, author of Understanding Me Understanding You, and founder of HappierMe.

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