Do you ever get a little bit tired of life? Like you’re not really happy, but you don’t wanna die?
“Having anxiety and depression is like feeling tired and scared at the same time. It’s the fear of failure, but no urge to be productive. It’s feeling everything at once, then feeling paralyzingly numb.”
As Em Beihold in her song “Numb Little Bug” and Rich Wilkerson Jr. brings to life, mental health matters. Did you know that female nurses are 70% more likely to die by suicide than female doctors, and nurses, in general, have higher rates of suicide than physicians and even the public (WebMD)?
We screen patients for suicidal and homicidal ideation on admission with questionnaires like the Columbia- Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS).. “Do you ever fall asleep and hope to not wake up?”
“Have you ever had any thoughts of killing yourself?”
“Have you ever planned to end your life?”
Some patients laugh at these questions or make jokes about living with their spouse, however, more increasingly patients rate positive on these scales and require closer surveillance. The importance of checking in with our co workers also cannot go unnoticed. Working a stressful job on top of having anxiety, depression, or other mental health condition creates a difficult shift in itself. As patients are presenting with higher levels of aggression and/or are increasingly sicker, the job becomes more taxing. The struggle with mental health is that it is not often seen, unless carefully observed.
Taking time to fully listen to others, honestly answer “How are you?”, and having a healthy level of self-awareness is crucial to promote a healthy mindset.
Knowing that violence, depression, and anxiety are not “just part of the job,” allows solutions to be made. Speak up and speak out for yourself and others’ wellbeing. I am lucky to only have anxiety, rather than the anxiety-depression duo. Every day I take my pill and work on myself to create a life worth living.
If you ever need someone to talk to (even if we have never met), send me a message.
Until next shift,
Shania