Monthly Mental Health Moment: July 2022

Declaring Independence/July 2022

This week, our country celebrated its independence. Also this week, our office continued to offer outreach events so that new students, residents and fellows know about the services that we provide.

Within that orientation, we talk about developing a self-care plan. It is important to consider three questions:

1. What are my “go to” coping skills?
2. What maladaptive/negative coping skills do I need to let go?
3. What new skills do I want to slowly and mindfully add?

This may be a good time for everyone to consider those questions and work to develop a personal self-care plan.

In particular, consider question #2. Do you have maladaptive/negative coping skills that you need to declare your independence from? They may have been tools that helped in the past but which are now holding you back.

When I worked in the Eating Disorders Clinic, there was a great metaphor that I used with clients. Imagine that you are going over a waterfall. A log is next to you. You want to save yourself, so you grab on. That is often what the eating disorder offered many of my clients—a way to stay safe in turbulent times. Perhaps, trauma or family chaos was their crashing waterfall. The eating disorder gave them a way to cope.

But when they came out of the waterfall and ended up in a beautiful pool, they could not continue to cling to that log. It (the log/the eating disorder) saved them in the chaos but it was now holding them back. Life was happening on the shores of that lake but the log was too heavy to carry with them. My patients could not be successful in life if they took their eating disorder forward in their lives. They needed to let go of that log and trust that they could swim. Trust that they would find healthier coping strategies. Trust that they could survive.

Are you holding onto a negative coping strategy that is holding you back? For example, we often overeat junk food or drink too much alcohol. We binge watch TV when we should be sleeping. Fill in the blank with a coping strategy that is not helping. What do you want to declare your independence from?

What skills do you need to put in its place? Or what do you need to consider to help declare independence? Perhaps, making sure you don’t eat while zoning out with the TV or not buying that junk food—if it’s not there, you can’t eat it! Perhaps, work to be more mindful. Connect with friends, instead of watching TV. Go to sleep, instead of mindlessly scrolling through your phone.

Remember, our country had to fight hard for its independence. If you work to declare your independence and fail, don’t give up! Start again. Rally your supports. Map out a plan. And move forward. Charge!

Best,
Martha Peaslee Levine, MD
Director, Office for Professional Mental Health

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