Mindfulness and Compassion as Antidotes to Physician Addiction
Main Article Content
Abstract
Addiction, broadly defined, is common in healthcare settings. A person can be addicted to substances, junk food, work, power, money, using mobile devices, and so on. The problem is generally ignored until dire consequences occur (e.g. a critical mistake is made, or the clinician acts in an unprofessional manner). Once identified, addicted physicians are usually referred to Physician Health Programs i.e. sent elsewhere to deal with their presumed personal issues. A Buddhist view of addiction differs from Western psychology and psychiatry in that it examines compulsive behaviours in the light of ‘common humanity.’ Craving is seen to be the cause of (all) suffering. Obsessions (about the desired object) occur in the mind; this then triggers compulsive acts. And thus, treatment includes examining how the mind works, how it influences behaviours, and how it can be used to heal suffering.
Article Details
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. Creative Comons 4.0 CC-BY
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
References
Canadian Medical Association. CMA National Physician Health Survey: A National Snapshot [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2019 March 18]. Available from: https://www.cma.ca/sites/default/files/
-11/nph-survey-e.pdf
Grinspoon P. Back from the abyss: A recovered doctor’s view of the opioid epidemic. Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics. 2018;(8)3:E1-E3.
Geynisman DM. E-mail anonymous: a physician’s addiction. J Clin Oncol. 2015;33(3):285-7.
Weir E. Substance abuse among doctors. JAMC. 2000;162(12):1730.
Oreskovich MR, Dyrbye LN, Tan L, Sotile W, Satele D, West CP, Sloan J, Boone S. The prevalence of substance use disorders in American physicians. Am J Addict. 2015;24:30–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajad.12173.
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Addiction [Internet]. 2019 [cited 2019 March 18]. Available from: http://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/addiction.
Wistrand J. When doctors are patients: A narrative study of help-seeking behaviour among addicted physicians. Med Humanity. 2017; 43:19-23, doi:10.1136/medhum-2016-011002.
Gossop M, Marsden J, Stewart D, Treacy S. Outcomes after methadone maintenance and methadone reduction treatments: Two-year follow-up results from the National Treatment Outcome Research Study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2001;62:255-64.
Groves P. Buddhist approaches to addiction recovery. Religions. 2014;5:985–1000.
doi:10.3390/rel5040985.
Houlihan SD, Brewer JA. The emerging science of mindfulness as a treatment for addiction. In: Shonin E, Van Gordon W, Griffith MD (eds). Mindfulness and Buddhist-Derived Approaches in Mental Health and Addiction. New York: Springer Press; 2016. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-22255-4. p. 191-210.
Levine N. Refuge Recovery: A Buddhist Path to Recovering from Addiction. New York: Harper Collins; 2014.
Kaufmann M. Physician substance use and addiction [Internet]. Renascent Alumni 2015 [cited 2019 March 18]. Available from: https://renascent.ca/physician-substance-use-and-addiction/.
Marshall EJ. Doctor’s health and fitness to practice: treating addicted doctors. Occup Med. 2008;58:334-40.