At the end of 2012 the dental world was shocked by the tragic death of a dentist in Leeds. The death was recorded as suicide and reports emerged that the practitioner felt harassed and bullied by his primary care trust. Whilst that is an extreme example, stress is something that dentists have to deal with on a daily basis, its impact can range from time off work to just making the day less enjoyable.
So what is stress, how can you recognise the early symptoms and what preventive steps can you take to stop it having a negative impact on your life?
The Dentist recently spoke with Melvyn Clarke, a psychotherapist who runs Inner-World-Training courses. Here he explains how the body reacts to stress, and why dental professionals are particularly at risk.
Understanding the body
Stress is caused by the build-up of tension in the body’s core muscles. The core muscles are groups of muscles that hold our posture and support our organs. Our breathing, heart, and several other systems are mainly non-voluntary or smooth muscles that work 24 hours a day, seven days a week through our central nervous system. It is difficult to relax these muscles, they often just simply hold on to the stress that develops.
Signs of stress
Often when people are stressed they over-think problems. Emotions become distorted, and people often withdraw into themselves. Stress can be a cause of many problems, from breathing difficulties to trouble sleeping at night. It can disrupt one’s digestive system and even affect the reproductive system – the list goes on and on. As stress develops often sufferers fall into threat-mode and retreat further into themselves.
Why dentists?
Anything can cause stress, from pressure at work to personal relationships, and anyone can be affected. Being a professional, well-educated or on a large salary does not mean that you will be stress-free or know how to cope with emotions, in fact sometimes the opposite is true.
Dentists, like many healthcare professionals, are in a position of authority when they deal with patients. While it is acceptable (perhaps even expected) that a patient shows signs of nervousness during an appointment, dentists are expected to keep a professional front on. As such there is a detachment from their emotions. Holding back frustrations and feelings, rather than dealing with them properly makes stress build up much more quickly.
Coping
Often when people are stressed they turn to an external method of coping, perhaps alcohol or drugs, but these things never get to the root of the problem. The sensible solution is found within our inner-systems.
It is strange that throughout our education we receive no formal education on how to deal with stress, yet it will determine our quality, and possibly even length, of life.
Prevention
I have been practising for over 30 years, and I see sufferers of depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and nervous breakdowns on a weekly basis. People often say to me they had no idea they were suffering from stress but there are always signs if you look for them. Many patients lived in ignorance or denial, refusing to recognise that their need for more alcohol, more drugs, or taking more days off sick is actually because they are overly stressed. Sadly this means that people often only approach the subject of stress when it is a serious problem for them. Yet learning simple life-skills and understanding their emotional needs can bring down their risk of a serious stress related incident.
I truly believe that the vast majority of people do not need psychotherapy, or even counselling, but would benefit from the preventive approach of life-skills training like that of Inner-World-Training.
Overcoming stress can be easy if it is approached in the correct way, and with practise, positive skills can become almost subconsciously automatic meaning individuals remain less stressed and enjoy a marked improvement in their quality of life.
Early signs
Of course everyone is different, but here are the common signs of stress.
Insomnia. The inability to sleep is one of the most obvious signs of stress. It can begin with the odd night and soon develop into more serious insomnia.
Lethargy. Whilst stress can keep you from resting at night, it can also sap your energy during the day leaving sufferers tired and lethargic.
Aches and pains. When someone is stressed they are often more susceptible to health problems.
Inability to concentrate. Stress can take away an individual’s ability to think clearly. Sufferers can find it difficult to make decisions and prioritise things.
Negativity. People losing their sense of humour is a clear early sign of stress. Individuals often become less tolerant of others and more negative and defensive. Body language is a good indicator of this.
Coping habits. Often one of the most obvious signs of stress is actually an individual’s reaction to it. Comfort eating, over-indulging in junk food or needing to drink more than normal in order to relax.
Stress in dentistry
Whilst it is impossible to measure the value of the loss in terms of quality of life for those suffering from stress, figures from income protection companies can begin to put the scale of the problem into a financial context.
In 2012, 19 per cent of all male claims paid, and 16 per cent of the female claims paid to Dentists’ Provident’s members were for psychiatric disorders (coming to a grand total of £730k). Depression accounted for almost half of that figure, with ‘work related stress’ the cause of over £50k of payments and general stress another £30k.
David Jones, head of member services at Dentists’ Provident comments: “Dentistry is a stressful occupation and the proportion of stress related claims we have paid has been consistent over recent years. We see many different types of claims due to stress related conditions and these can be for personal or work related reasons. Such claims aren’t just experienced within the older age groups either, but right through a dentist’s career. Sickness absences may result from the exam stress of finals to every key time afterwards, such as the first days in practice while fitting in with a new team in a new environment, through to buying a practice and the stress of running a business. The current economic situation is also causing more financial pressure and is contributing to the stress of working in a dental practice.