Author: Dr Jodie

Dr Jodie http://www.disrupt.vet Writer, veterinarian, mum, neurodivergent, wellbeing scientist, weirdo.
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It’s been an interesting couple of months here at disrupt.vet—in July I developed a random and still unexplained empyema (pyothorax) which needed a thoracotomy to resolve, followed by a road trip to Melbourne for uni (I wasn’t allowed to fly after the thoracotomy), and then a major presentation on wellbeing for AEA Next ’19. Things are slowly settling back to our version of ‘normal’, and I’ve even been cleared by my many, many, doctors to start rehab to eventually get back to work.

One of the things I’ve noticed since my fun little empyema experience, is that my mental health has been poor, and my emotions extremely dysregulated. Now this is within the range of “normal” for me—I have comorbid diagnoses of Autism, ADHD, social and generalised anxiety.  Emotional dysregulation, anxiety and depression are common in neurodivergent individuals. But all my normal self-care and behavioural management strategies are currently ineffective. Which led me to wonder, why do strategies that have worked for decades, and have good empirical evidence to support them, suddenly stop working?

I got a clue to the answer while talking to my infectious disease doctor, who is still trying to figure out why the right side of my chest suddenly filled with pus. She’s concerned that my microbiome might have been disrupted, back in 2017 when I was on weeks of intravenous antibiotics for the xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis that eventually cost me my right kidney. Of course, I was also on two weeks of IV AB in July after my pleural effusion was diagnosis as empyema. The ID doc specifically asked about my mental health since that time—because changes in affect (positive and negative emotion), anxiety and depression can be triggered by disruptions in the gut microbiota! So she’s ordered RNA microbiome testing because that’s the most reliable snapshot we can currently get of the bacteria, viruses, archaea, yeast, fungi, and eukaryotes living in the gut. It’s limited in that it doesn’t give a specific analysis of the mucosal surface layer of each section of the GIT—but the overview can be useful. 

So now we’re waiting on those reports, and I’m fascinated to see the results. The published literature linking mental illness and disrupted gut flora is growing. I wonder what that means for veterinarians, a group exposed to both excessive hygiene practices and a wide range of zoonotic bacteria?

That happiness C-R-A-P…

Positive Psychology for Veterinarians

What the hell is Positive Psychology? Is it woo-woo with crystals and coconut oil? Is it enforced smiling and no sadness allowed? Or is there more to it than that? And how is it relevant to veterinarians?

Okay, okay, settle down! That’s a lot of very good questions, and we’ll get to them all.

I had a conversation with a well-known, older veterinary dentist the other day about the post-graduate study program I’m enrolled in. I’m sure some of you might guess who, when I tell you that he asked me, “What’s this happiness crap all about? Where does that sort of bullshit come from? And how can you do a Master’s degree in it?” 

It’s not an unexpected response—after all I’ve known this particular veterinary dentist for a really long time, but I feel like it might not be the last time I’m asked that question. It’s not that veterinarians are cynical and mistrustful, or anything, right? It’s just that self-help isn’t normally that helpful, and we’re busy people. So why is positive psychology something we should pay attention to? 

To start with, it’s probably really important that you disregard the big yellow smiley face that the media would have us associate with positive psychology. Positive psychology has been widely promoted as “the science of happiness”, but I think Prof Christopher Peterson summed it up best when he wrote that “happiness as positive psychology conceives it is not for sissies” (2006). In positive psychology, happiness is far more than feeling good—in fact, positive emotion makes up only a small part of what is more accurately called wellbeing. 

Wellbeing science is truly that—science—with good empirical validation of many of its claims and interventions, and robust dialogue challenging any non-data-driven assumptions that are found. One of those areas of robust dialogue at present is around the very definition of wellbeing; or rather around the fact that we don’t have a universally agreed definition of what wellbeing truly means. There are researchers who believe (and I agree) that an individual’s conceptualisation of wellbeing may be population-specific, context-driven, and could change over time (Disabato, 2015; Hamling, 2015; Hone, Schofield, & Jarden, 2015). We know that living life out of congruence with the things that are important to you is a sure fire way to head down the path of poor mental health (Jarden, 2010). What are the values that matter to veterinarians as a population? How can we define wellbeing to promote flourishing?

With that in mind, here’s the question I want to pose to veterinarians around the world: what does wellbeing mean for you?

I have some ideas, obviously, but I’m a fan of data-driven decision making, so please, help me to answer the question! You can comment below, or email me: drjodie@disrupt.vet

Please let me know if you’d like your comments to remain anonymous when you email.

If we want to move veterinarians from a state of languishing, to a state of flourishing along the mental health continuum (Keyes, 2002), we need to know what flourishing looks like for vets. So tell me: what do you need to live your best life? What does wellbeing mean to you?

References:

Disabato, D. J. G. F. R. K. T. B. S. J. L. J. A. (2015). Different types of well-being? A cross-cultural examination of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Psychological Assessment, 28, 471–482. Retrieved from https://ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/login?url=http://ovidsp.ovid.com.ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&CSC=Y&NEWS=N&PAGE=fulltext&AN=00012030-201605000-00003&D=ovft&PDF=y. doi:10.1037/pas0000209

Hamling, K. J. A. S. G. (2015). Recipes for occupational wellbeing: An investigation of the associations with wellbeing in New Zealand workers. New Zealand Journal of Human Resources Management, 15(2), 151-173. Retrieved from http://www.nzjhrm.org.nz/Site/Articles/2015_Folder/Special_Issue_2015.aspx.

Hone, L., Schofield, G., & Jarden, A. (2015). Conceptualizations of wellbeing: Insights from a prototype analysis on New Zealand workers. NZJ Hum Resour Manage, 15, 97-118. 

Jarden, A. J. (2010). Relationships between personal values, and depressed mood and subjective wellbeing.(PhD), University of Canterbury, Retrieved from http://www.aaronjarden.com/uploads/3/8/0/4/3804146/2010_aaron_jarden_phd.pdf

Keyes, C. L. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(2), 207-222. Retrieved from http://www.flume.com.br/pdf/Keyes_The_mental_health.pdf.

Peterson, C. (2006). A Primer in Positive psychology. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press.