by Although the research was done on healthcare workers, the study authors say the lessons can be applied to any profession.
Researchers are looking for new ways to combat burnout, and one possible solution is simpler than you might think. A new study says that thinking positively for a few minutes a day can improve your mental health in the long run.
It could be something kind you did for someone or something beautiful you saw, like a sunset.
The study focused on people who have been particularly busy in the past two years; health workers.
“Two out of three of our colleagues are drowning in the water right now and need a life jacket,” said Dr. Bryan Sexton, director of Duke’s Center for Healthcare Safety and Quality.
WARNING SIGNS OF SUICIDE: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT PREVENTION, RED FLAGS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM
Workers, left, change into medical gloves as people get tested for COVID-19 at a mobile testing site in Farragut Square, Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021, a few blocks from the White House in Washington. . (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin / AP News Room)
Dr. Sexton was the study’s principal investigator. He says many healthcare workers are feeling burned out, especially after a busy couple of years of pandemic care, and now a nasty mix of covid and flu cases.
He created a handful of video tutorials that explain simple ways to think or act positively. The videos are on his EdMedX Youtube channel. Study participants applied the tips to their daily work lives.
“The actual activity can take anywhere from 2 to 7 minutes,” Sexton said.
TEACHERS’ ORGANIZATION FOCUSES ON MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS FOR EDUCATORS
A person receives a throat swab from a healthcare worker at a testing site inside the Bismarck Event Center as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continued in Bismarck, North Dakota, USA, on October 26, 2020. (Reuters/Bing Guan/Reuters Photos)
One lesson encourages you to recall a time when you were “in awe” of some beautiful place.
“Wonder expands your sense of time. You’ll feel like you have more time available,” he says in one of the videos, found on YouTube.
The idea may sound simple, but the data says it works. The researchers showed the lessons to 480 healthcare workers and then measured their emotional exhaustion in the months that followed.
After a month, the exhaustion improved. And it continued to improve for a year, which is when the study ended.
“I think Dr. Sexton’s work really helped me add micromeditations in between all my work,” said Dr. Genie McPeek Hinz, who was involved in the research.
“You just don’t have time to take care of yourself,” McPeek Hinz said.
EARLY AND SURPRISING RISE OF RSV IN CHILDREN HAS HOSPITALS, MEDICAL CENTERS CONCERNED
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 21: Striking workers picket outside the SAGE nursing home in Barnet on October 21, 2021, in London, UK. Carers, domestic and maintenance workers at SAGE Nursing Home in north London are on strike (Guy Smallman/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Dr. Sexton says it’s crucial that healthcare workers take care of themselves, because that stress shouldn’t be passed on to patients.
“Emotional exhaustion is directly related, not only to medication errors, but also to delays in care delivery, communication failures, disruptive behaviors, and risk-adjusted mortality rates,” Sexton said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP
Although the investigation is over, Duke is hosting regular mental health sessions that are free to all healthcare workers in the US. The next sessions are in January.
Although the study focused on healthcare workers, Sexton says these tools can be applied to any profession and anyone who feels burned out.
