Fang Farrier

It's refreshing to hear and see mental health, burnout and wellness being discussed within the profession but is it being actioned at a practice level? If not, why not, what's the big disconnect?

Are you playing sport, a musical instrument? Are you keeping up with the hobbies you love? If not you might be missing out on an easy mood and resilience boost.    

Discussing suicide in the dental profession. Please take care listening to this if it is a subject you may find triggering and be mindful of others that maybe in earshot whilst you listen I reference 'This is going to hurt' Adam Kay The Tedx Talk by John Nieuwenburg - The cultural taboos of suicide and mental illness If you need help:  https://www.samaritans.org.nz/?gclid=CjwKCAjwo_KXBhAaEiwA2RZ8hHwIAQLtV5v-o73kMJlvq3qLUIeZcRgaJgLkRCu9PEN4WDzUWIZFnBoCGGAQAvD_BwE

Love your job? Indifferent or even hate being a dentist? Maybe it depends on the day, most of us wrestle with leaving or staying in a job at some point in our careers. But maybe it's not the job, this episode explores how to enjoy the job we're in more and maybe when we're hanging on to a job we should have left. Join the discussion on facebook - It's Dentist's Life, on twitter @fang_farrier

Completing your stress cycle My thoughts based on the chapter' complete the cycle in Emily and Amelia Nagoski's book 'Burnout, Solve Your Stress Cycle' Have your lion and eat it!  

Struggling with another year of functioning in and out of work with the complexities of life in yet another year of the shadows of a pandemic. Some thoughts on burning out again.

'If we don't make time for health then we will be forced to make time for illness' Reflecting on the cost of our choices like turning up to work sick or running late to accommodate unrealistic expectations.

We all have less than ideal coping mechanisms/ habits that we lean in to when times get tough. But do you know what they are and if they're still working for you? Talking habits and building better ones over the old faithfuls like over eating, over drinking and recreational drugs.

Season 2 Episode 4 Where do broken dentists go? I often think about colleagues who have left dentistry and what might have been if they'd had the tools, resources and support they needed to overcome the things in the way of it being an enjoyable career. How can we stop losing them? Join the discussion on Twitter @fang_farrier or fb It's a Dentist's Life  

  Season 2 Episode 3: The demonisation of dentistry Why do people hate the dentist and why are we fair game in the published press? Discussing dentists in tv , movies and the media.  Looking at what we can control or influence and what we can't

Season 2 Ep 1 Gratitude A positive emotion and a strength important to resilience and well being. But how can we practice it in a dental setting? Join the conversation at fang_farrier on twitter or It's a Dentist's Life on facebook  

Season 2 Episode 1 : Sleep Talk Starting with the foundations for building any resilience tool box on. This episode Emz talks sleep, why it's important, why the lack there of can lead to burnout, depression and just make life and dentistry harder. How can you improve your sleep and build everyday resilience? Join the conversation on Twitter @fang_farrier and FB: It's a Dentist's Life.

Intro to season 2, focus on positive psychology in the context of applications to the dental profession.  

Patient centred or dentist driven treatment? Slowing down patients from rushing into complex, higher risk treatments. Unlearning some of what we learnt at dental school. Join the discussion on Twitter @fang_farrier  

We need to change how we think about complaints as the associated stress of dealing with formal complaints can be unbearable. Join the discussion on Twitter @fang_farrier

They certainly found it hard to talk about at dental school, like money was a dirty word.  But it's essential for consent, effective communication in every patient interaction we have. Are your money beliefs and the emotions tied to the affecting how you discuss fees and payments with your patients? Discussing this and more, join the discussion on Twitter @fang_farrier

Talking about managing work on days you feel less than OK. Why these days sometimes catch us off guard and why we are reluctant to use Mental Health days. Join the discussion @fang_farrier on Twitter What are you experiences?

A dental surgery is full of loud noises and those working within it are at high risk of noise induced hearing loss and tinnitus. But most of us aren't wearing any hearing protection. Join the discussion on Twitter @fang_farrier, I'd love to hear your experiences.

Why as dentists do we do this to ourselves? drag ourselves in on days we should stay home, return too early from injury. Medicating to get through the day, limping, casts on our legs. A discussion about 'sick leave' or the lack there of and the reluctance to accept that we are only human after all. Join the discussion on twitter @fang_farrier, I would love to hear your stories.

Reflecting on issues raised by the Netflix film The Social Dilemma. Relating this to the dark side of dental facebook groups. Discussing how best to use social media in a healthy way and useful way and avoid it negatively affecting your mental health. If you haven't deleted the app after listening then join the discussion on Twitter @fang_farrier

In what promises to be another year of heightened stress, this episode explores the relationship between stress, recovery and resilience. Taking lessons from sports performance and psychology, how we can use stress to grow more resilient and make sure our downtime is recovery. Create space for and plan purposeful recovery activities everyday. Join the discussion on Twitter @fang_farrier.  

Teaser for upcoming episodes 6 & 7 Stealing a quiet moment in the house to talk about upcoming episodes and introduce myself. If you want to introduce yourself and say hi, find me on Twitter @fang_farrier or drop me an email fangfarrier@outlook.co.nz  

Tired or burnt out, would you recognise the difference? In a brain heavy occupation like dentistry it's easy to feel tired, especially in the lead up to Christmas. But is it just fatigue or another symptom of burnout? Burnout is a real risk for dentists with serious potential outcomes. Recognising it in yourself and others may save lives. This episode I discuss this and more, if you'd like to join the discussion find me on Twitter @fang_farrier *correction: grand master chess players have been found to burn 6000 calories in a day during a tournament ( mot 60,000!)

There are many reasons that working in dentistry can feel like working in a pressure cooker.  Time is a big one. Pressure to keep to time, to not work through breaks, to not run late.  Add to this the pressure of all those emergencies that crawl out of the woodwork at this time of year, it's no wonder we finish the year exhausted, in a heap. Does it have to be this way? I don't think so, listen today for easy tips to make your run up to Christmas less stressful.

Is bullying prevalent in dentistry? What are the power imbalances within the structure of a dental practice that allow this? Are we as a profession leaning into bullying strategies as a management tool? Does someone need to be the 'bad guy'? Just part of the discussion, head to twitter fang_ farrier if you want to join this discussion.

Introducing self care, we're great at caring for others but what about us? Discussing the importance of hydration in maintaining mental health and managing stress in the surgery. Dentistry as an endurance sport and dentists her professional athletes.    

S1 Ep1: What is resilience and why do we need it? An introduction to resilience and building your own resilience tool kit. Join the discussion on Twitter @fang_farrier References: VIA Strengths, take the test viacharacter.org Books: The Crossroads of Should and Must - Elle Luna Black Box Thinking - Matthew Syed Braving the Wilderness - Brené Brown Resilient Grieving - Lucy Hone Man's Search For Meaning - Viktor Frankl The One Thing - Gary Keller

Discussing the tough topics and building every day resilience into life behind and beyond the mask.

Composed, performed and produced by villettedash780 through fiverr. An award winning freelance professional music producer, writer and vocalist. Based right here in New Zealand.