There is a risk that dental practitioners become an emotional sponge or shock absorber for anxious, fearful, and sometimes aggressive patients without realising the cumulative psychological toll this takes. Emotional contagion and repeated exposure to patient distress can lead to compassion fatigue. It is important to learn how to remain empathetic without internalising stress, by setting emotional boundaries, grounding after difficult appointments, and reframing responsibility for patient emotions.

Procrastination is an avoidance behaviour or coping mechanism that has gone a little off track. It is usually a result of feelings of anxiety or even dread about a task that they have to complete.

The team at Mindspot have found through their research that there are five key actions that you can do that leads to better mental health. There is a tipping point – people who do the Big Five activities at least 3-4 times each week are more likely to have good mental health, but people who don’t do them that often are likely to have poor mental health, including symptoms of depression and anxiety.

October is Mental Health Month, which provides a perfect opportunity to start a conversation about mental health and wellbeing. 1 in 5 Australians will experience a mental illness this year. And sadly, we know that 60% of people with a mental illness will not seek help.

Stress is inevitable, but taking steps to address it can help to ensure that you get a good night sleep so that it doesn’t affect your performance the next day.

Feeling anxious is a normal response to keep us safe from danger - it’s fight or flight in action. But persistent worry or distress can be difficult to control. Up to one-third of women and one-fifth of men will experience anxiety at some point in their lives. Recent research has found that 1 in 10 dental practitioners have reported a current diagnosis of anxiety disorder, and around 20% reported ever having a diagnosis of anxiety disorder.

It is said that fear extinguishes more dreams than failure. Fear of failure will prevent you from seeking out new experiences or taking risks, so it is important to try and embrace and challenge those fears in order to grow and experience new opportunities.

Feeling anxious is a normal response to keep us safe from danger - it’s fight or flight in action, and it’s a feeling we all experience at some time in our lives. But persistent worry or distress can be difficult to control. Anxiety can interfere with how we go about our everyday lives and make it hard to cope with ‘normal ‘challenges. Anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental health issues in Australia, affecting up to one-third of women and one-fifth of men at some point in their lives.

Comparison is the thief of joy. So said Theodore Roosevelt. And he’s got a point. When we compare ourselves to others, using them as a yardstick, it literally steals away the satisfaction we should feel in our own life.