TURNING 2021
STARTING THE
NEW YEAR
MENTALLY FIT
There is a prospective optimism that
a new year brings allowing a “start
over” positivity that helps our
collective need to shed and renew.
Yet before we burst out the champagne, we
should process how we got here, as 2020
may well have been the most challenging
year of our lives, with enough despair,
wounds, and wisdom such that we are
“Turning 2021,” metaphorically speaking,
of course.
We have been in the grips of a worldwide
pandemic that has upended our personal
and professional lives. Our nation’s soul
lays bare amidst a fight for racial equality.
As the pandemic rages on, our mental
health has continued to take a hit. The
chronic exposure to stress is causing a
variety of issues. The uncertainty, lack
of sense of control, and alteration in our
values and routines have given way to anxiety.
The successive, unexpected changes
brought on by the pandemic have also
been underscored by a series of losses
– our jobs, how we work, our children’s
routines, travel, finances, gathering with
family and friends, and simple pleasures
like eating out and entertainment. This
sense of loss over life as we knew it has
been a chief driver of depression. When
attempting to suppress a severe wildfire,
there is a possibility for firefighting crews
to be overrun by the wildfire, known as
12 DALLAS MEDICAL JOURNAL • January 2021
entrapment and burnover. There are many
metaphors that come to mind when we
consider the toll of 2020 on our mental fitness.
Move over, burnout. We are suffering
from burnover.
Turning 2021 might not feel like a moment
to see the glass as half full, but
a critical step toward restoring mental
fitness, and a favorite tool in the psychiatrist’s
toolbox, is perspective taking. This
is not meant to minimize the harsh reality
of an incredibly difficult 2020 with Pollyannaish
optimism. Many of us have lost
loved ones, friends, and colleagues. We
are sad, frustrated, and exhausted. But
as we reflect on 2020, taking stock of the
losses and triumphs, there were unmissable
silver linings.
Creativity - Amidst the suffering, we
witnessed heights of human spirit and
ingenuity. Rising to the clinical and logistical
challenges, we put on our problemsolving
caps to make the most of a limited
supply of personal protective equipment
(PPE), ventilators, and medications. When
our hospitals reached capacity, we built
makeshift hospitals and converted concert
centers into giant negative-pressure
rooms. We served our patients to the best
of our abilities, embracing the steep learning
curve and ever-changing guidelines
and information on COVID-19. We held our
patients’ hands to give them a dignified
sendoff when their loved ones could not be
there in their last moments. Our creativity
wasn’t just limited to our professional
lives; in addition to doctor, we added
teacher, caregiver, coach, and other roles
to our credit.
Technology - We went virtual. Sure, we
went from one online meeting to the next
and had to scramble for a bathroom break,
but we found a great way to safely connect
with our patients, parents, friends, and
each other. When we ached for culture, we
brought Hamilton, the Metropolitan Opera,
and concerts via streaming at home. We
virtually toured cities and world class
museums, studying art masterpieces,
closely zooming in and out. We flexed our
tech muscles and found other convenient
ways to bring the comfort of nourishment
and shopping for essentials to our
doorsteps. It took a few months to get
the hang of it, but we joined online gyms
and live workout classes from home. Our
internet bandwidth made it possible to
meet the combined needs of work from
home, telemedicine, online school, and a
dozen devices streaming online platforms
simultaneously. We concurrently admired
and doom-scrolled the institutional and
governmental COVID-19 data repositories.
Most importantly, we had real-time information
about this pandemic at our fingertips
(at times, perhaps too much information).
Community - We learned that gratitude
PHYSICIAN WELLNESS
By AEKTA MALHOTRA, MD, MS
ABPN Board Certified
Apollo Psychiatry, PLLC
ApolloPsych.com
Rising to the clinical and logistical challenges,
we put on our problem solving caps to make the
most of a limited supply of personal protective
equipment (PPE), ventilators, and medications.