The British and Austrailian view of wellbeing

The British perspective

“Doctors' wellbeing? Are you kidding? I don't so much ‘maintain’ my own wellbeing as continually firefight from one crisis to the next.” Adrian Fogarty, a cardiac consultant from London, is pessimistic about how doctors maintain their wellbeing. He continues: “When our specialty recently questioned consultants about stress, it missed the very people it was attempting to capture. We were too stressed to find time to fill the damn form out.”

Stephen Hayes, a GP tutor in Hampshire, recently ran a wellbeing workshop for GPs. He told them: “You will be disappointed some of the time, but if you are disappointed all the time there may be things you need to change.” To maintain wellbeing, he suggests: “Take the same advice that you give your patients. Look after your physical health. Don't drink to excess. Take regular exercise. Plan some time for yourself. Dream a little.” He also recommends cultivating a passion. His is playing the mandolin.

Stephen defines wellbeing as “Waking up in the morning after a good night's sleep and thinking ‘I've got a great day ahead of me.’” His definition is broader than merely this morning buzz: “ It's the absence of fear. It's not being in pain. It's not being short of money and not being afraid for your personal security. Wellbeing is feeling positive that life has a lot to offer and that you have a lot to give.” Stephen believes our climate has an adverse effect on wellbeing: “The weather gets you down. A lot of Britishness stems from the weather. We …