Headline: Kentucky author helps doctors deal
with stress
Psychology professor George Manning and his
collaborators have come up
with some formulas that could help us all
Byline: JOE WARD
The Courier-Journal
WHO DO doctors call when they want to know
how to deal with stress on the job?
The American Medical Association called George
Manning. He's a Northern Kentucky University
psychology professor who - with a couple of
colleagues - has written ''Stress: Living and
Working in a Changing World.''
On Thursday he discussed stress with about 400
doctors at a seminar in Chicago.
''There is no question that physicians feel a
significant amount of stress,'' said Bill Monnig, a
Northern Kentucky doctor who brought Manning to the
AMA's attention.
''They face increased regulation by thirdparty
payers and government'' that is eroding their
autonomy, Manning said. ''They've got increasing
volumes of paperwork and phone traffic,'' and
''their incomes are eroding no matter what they
do.''
Manning, interviewed before the talk, outlined
some topics he planned to discuss:
* Burnout - what it is, what to do about it and
why it matters. ''A calmer, more rested doctor
seems more focused and careful,'' he said. ''He's
not as apt to get sued.''
* ''Critical balance.'' This pits physical,
psychological and spiritual resources against the
corrosive effects of change and everyday hassles.
''You can handle a lot of stress if you have the
resources,'' he said.
* A warning against ''maladaptive coping
patterns,'' such as trying to compensate by
sleeping less or by ''self-medication'' with
alcohol, tobacco, or tranquilizers and other
drugs.
He said he would remind the doctors of ''the
things that make them happy'' - such as positive
relationships with patients and colleagues, and the
sense of clinical competence that studies say most
doctors enjoy.
He also planned to reacquaint them with such
coping techniques as escaping for a while through
relaxation, eating right, having a hobby, and
''managing emotions instead of letting them manage
you.''
Of course, doctors aren't the only people who
face stress. It's hard to find anybody who
doesn't.
And Manning's book - written with Kent Curtis, a
professor of organizational studies and leadership
development at Northern Kentucky, and Steve
McMillen, director of executive development and
performance improvement at Hillenbrand Industries
in Batesville, Ind. - is for everybody.
In addition to being a psychology professor,
Manning is a consultant who helps managers and
employees smooth out problems in the way they work
- together and as individuals.
In 1996, also with Curtis and McMillen, he wrote
a book called ''Building Community: The Human Side
of Work.'' It focused on groups - on ideas for
understanding and dealing with other kinds of
people.
''This book is more for the individual,''
Manning said. It's aimed at mental health
professionals, who can use it as an aid in their
work, and at college-level stress management
courses, where it can serve as a textbook.
But it's also for the typical ''overworked,
overstressed American.''
In his books, as in the seminars he's been
conducting for 30 years, Manning uses a lot of
examples and self-administered diagnostic tests.
And he illustrates points with anecdotes from the
lives of famous people - including Benjamin
Franklin, Napoleon, George Burns and Muhammad
Ali.
''He doesn't give you a lot of psychological
mumbo-jumbo,'' said
Rodney Hochman, chief medical officer and senior
vice president at Sentara Health Care in Norfolk,
Va.
''I think he makes it real,'' Hochman said. ''He
brings it down to a level where it's understandable
to most people.''
Hochman worked with Manning in 1994 and 1995,
when Health Alliance of Cincinnati and Northern
Kentucky was being formed by pulling together the
staffs and management of six area hospitals.
''It surprises me how he is able to engage his
audience,'' said Monnig, the doctor who brought
Manning to the attention of the AMA. Jack Cook,
Health Alliance's chief executive officer, has,
like Monnig, seen Manning in several settings, and
has a similar impression.
''George just has a tremendous way with his
people skills,'' Cook said. ''He's as fresh in
every one of these seminars as if he'd never done
it before. He's our preferred educator.''
Becky Lewis, who was chief executive officer of
the former Humana Hospital-Lexington, said that
whatever it is that Manning does, it works.
Her hospital, she said, was ''the last Humana
hospital in the world'' retained by the insurance
part of the Louisville-based company when it spun
off its hospital division in 1993.
'It was kind of like living in limbo,'' she
said. ''They didn't know when they'd be sold and
who they'd be sold to.'' So she called Manning in
to get the staff focused on what they had to do to
make the best of it.
''He's got this unique style where he doesn't
intimidate people,'' said Lewis, who now works at
Marymount Health Center in London, Ky. ''He draws
people out, and they are opening up before they
even know they are. He was incredibly
helpful.''
Manning and the other authors keep the book from
becoming tedious by chocking it full of quizzes to
help readers examine themselves for such things as
burnout, healthy living habits and even how long
they
expect to live.
There is food for thought, and action, in its
507 pages - exemplified well by Chapter 22, which
outlines ''The 1x3x7=21 Plan.''
''Too many people spend the first half of life
building their wealth and losing their health, only
to spend the second half of life losing their
wealth to regain their health,'' the authors
say.
To avoid that, they say:
* Use positive imagery to fight negative
impulses - putting ''mind over matter'' - at least
once a day.
* At least three times a week, have a 30- to
60-minute physical workout involving such aerobic
exercises as walking, jogging, cycling or
swimming.
* Arrange your life to permit the equivalent of
seven restful nights of sleep a week.
* Finally, have the equivalent of 21 nutritious
meals a week, avoiding too much fat, saturated fat,
cholesterol, sugar and sodium, seeking adequate
starch and fiber, and avoiding excessive
alcohol.
The book was published by Whole Person
Associates, Duluth, Minn.
|
