Member-only story
Work, Stress and Personal Growth
A meditation on what is worth taking home
I had lunch recently with a woman who lives in my building, after exchanging numbers as friendly neighbors do. We were getting to know one another, and she wanted to hear more details about my work. I briefly described doing regular Ob/Gyn care, with a focus on treating pregnant women with substance use disorders. We talked about meth, fentanyl and how, during the pandemic, mental illness and overdose-related deaths have been ravaging the country.
She asked me how I don’t take work home with me. I responded that I do.
I assume what she was referring to as “work” is the emotional aspect of my job — the sadness of the patients’ stories, the circumstances in which they’ve found themselves pregnant, substance-dependent, and usually desperate for help. She was probably also referring to the stress of caring for people who have more disease than access to medicine. Having been in a relationship with a surgery resident and aware of his stressors, she may have also been referring to second victim syndrome. Largely described in the medical community, second victim syndrome is the cluster of guilt, shame and trauma that occurs when a catastrophic patient event happens on one’s watch as the provider.
If I had to guess, I would say that most healthcare providers take work — the…
