Recognising stress

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.