Opening a practice of your own is an exciting prospect. Working on your terms, being in charge of your practice style, the sense of ownership and deciding those whom you want to work with, all contribute to this excitement. This utopia, however, can quickly become a nightmare for some practitioners, as they fall into the traps of opening their practice with little or no guidance resulting in mental distress affecting the practitioner's mental health.
These mental health issues plague the industry, some of which have resulted in health practitioners, unfortunately, taking their own life. In the recent article about the suicide of Dr Andrew Bryant, his wife Susan wrote an open letter to the community citing his anxieties about “private practice, about being behind in his office administration, about his practice finances, about some of his patients, about his competence...” 1 ultimately leading to him taking his own life.
Over the next few blog posts, we will deal with each aspect of ownership that can lead to these mental health stresses and most importantly, how they can be avoided.
McMillen, Andrew. 2017. “Sorry for the group email...” The Weekend Australian Magazine. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-australian-magazine/susan-bryant-speaks-out-on-her-husband-andrews-suicide/news-story/9e328523d100f0ac5f82a6cca0f24587