self-talk Archives - James K. Abshire, M.D.

Combating Stress: You Have Power!

September 2, 2016 by Dr. James Abshire Leave a Comment

“Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard”

The hospital loudspeaker blared away while the three doctors ran through the hospital with patient’s lives on the line. Mayhem everywhere. Fortunately, it was just a Three Stooges movie short. Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk.

But I remember experiencing those types of days in real life (although with slightly less pies flying through the air). Working for 20-plus hours and then just getting to sleep right before being called for a code blue and have to run straight from bed to a patient’s room to perform CPR with a life on the line. Trying to save patients who are septic, throwing up blood, having a heart attack, a stroke, or pneumonia, and all of that on the same day (I really hate Mondays).

Stress

August 6, 2016 by Dr. James Abshire Leave a Comment

Today you decided to take a nice walk in the forest after you got home from work. It’s a good way to unwind after a long day. As you walk down the trail, enjoying the beauty around you, you hear some strange rattling in the nearby bushes. You step closer to see what’s causing it, and suddenly realize it’s a mama grizzly and her cub. She lets out a loud roar. Before you have time to even think, you’re darting 20 feet in the opposite direction. This is the most stress you’ve ever felt in your life. But what is stress?

Self-Talk… Don’t Loose the Argument

May 17, 2016 by Dr. James Abshire 7 Comments

Man talking to a clone of himself

We all have self-talk. This is our inner talk…what we say to ourselves, usually quietly unless we look around first to make sure no one else is there. We all do it…well, maybe not all of us, but almost all of us. I’m not sure how the famous Marcel Marceau (the pantomime artist) talks to himself. Maybe he just pictures rooms with invisible walls in his mind. It must be weird to think in terms of clownish cartoons, with people in white painted faces moving very slowly and bumping into obstacles that aren’t really there.