Well I survived my spell of night shifts in the Emergency Department despite being viraemic (flash word for having a bit of a cold). More importantly, so did the patients. While Vitamin C, some anti cold remedies, paracetamol and coffee helped keep me awake and alert so did my COGNITHERAPEUTICALS. These are the therapeutic thoughts that like antibodies I can draw on to fight stressful situations. My software (mind) can generate these thoughts that create a sense of wellness and then stimulate my hardware (brain) to generate neurotransmitters, like dopamine, GABA, serotonin and endorphins, giving me a buzz working (no it wasnt the cold remedies!!).

Once upon I time I would dread going to work in a busy Emergency Department as a doctor on a Saturday night, let alone Easter when it tends to be busier and many friends and family are relaxing. It all came down to what I was telling myself when I walked through the door, saw the full waiting room of patients and thought “Oh no look at all those people!”. Now I have trained my mind to stimulate my brain to get excited when I see a full waiting room, also to feel grateful when I see an empty one. Just like crunches at the gym can strengthen your AB’s, you can strengthen the neural networks in your head that stimulate these chemicals that make you feel good. the advantage of “feeling good” is that your hardware is working well, you are less likely to make mistakes, and people are less likely to complain.

Your concentration and memory improve, you enjoy your shift and look forward to the next one instead of dreading it! Healthy Thinking and COGNITHERAPEUTICS can generate what I like to call a “THOUGHT BUZZ”.

I tell myself when I see the waiting room full and the endless stream of ambulance staff bringing in trauma victims or people having heart attacks, I choose to think, “More People to help” or ” I studied long and hard to have this privilege of working in an Emergency Department” or, “I can use my skills and get more experience in this case” .

It really works, I enjoy the difficult cases, the procedures and volunteer for resus cases, the seemingly mundane cases and the ones no one else wants. Like a druggie looking for their next fix, I ENJOY MY JOB”. I get a THOUGHT BUZZ and energy, just by changing what I think!!”

The trick is to create that same THOUGHT BUZZ, when the shift finishes. Just as much as I enjoy my job, I enjoy coming home to relax, or do something adventurous.

Right now my wife and son are away for a few days holiday visiting our oldest daughter, my youngest daughter is away for the day riding horses, while our middle daughter is about to start her first job as a lawyer tomorrow. Its just me and the cat and the dog at home for a lazy Sunday afternoon. A time to get my spearfishing gear maintained for the next adventure, do some reading, drink coffee and read the paper. Relaxing allows my brain to make more healthy neurotransmiiters.

Another way to stimulate them is extreme adventure. I have just returned from a Black Water Rafting adventure with my 14 year old daughter and her 2 friends. Underground caving, jumping off waterfalls backwards into an abyss several hundred metres underground with your butt in an inflatable tube is full on adventure. My son and wife refused to come due to the thought of being underground going over waterfalls in the pitch black with head torches and having to do it with screaming teenage girls! I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!

One needs alot of Healthy Thinking to cope with the vagaries of the teenage brain and not get stressed at some of their behaviour, but if managed correctly, TEENAGERS can be fun!! But thats the topic of another Blog, if not my next book!