A Thoroughly Modern Malady

Article

There are very few occupations that do not have intrinsic hazards. In an article in The New York Times recently, I read about a...

There are very few occupations that do not have intrinsic hazards. In an article in The New York Times recently, I read about a group of poor bastards in Buffalo who worked in the plants supplying pumped up radioactive materials to the nuclear weapons industry. This was in the 1950s and they are now getting sick with cancer. Because of poor record keeping, some of them are not able to take advantage of a medical program specifically designed for them. Some are just dying.

Medical professionals probably do not suffer such dramatic conditions related to work, but there is one very real condition that is pervasive to people doing our jobs. Of the 200,000 pharmacists out there, I’d bet that 90% of them have suffered from this condition at one time or the other during their careers. It can be debilitating and dangerous. It can harm marriages and relationships. Health can suffer. So why is it not addressed?

Nurses, physicians, administrators, phlebotomists and everybody else in the medical industry are susceptible to this malady. It is all-encompassing, dangerous and difficult to treat. Probably because it is just accepted as part of the job.

Medical practitioners suffer stomach difficulties, hypertension and other insidious difficulties because of this problem. It is a thoroughly modern ailment that, frankly, is not recognized as a source of difficulty. It is probably the condition most prevalent among medical professionals. There is a name for it. You can find it in the best reference sources. It is labeled as: Hurry Sickness.

A modern malady caused by constant rushing. A compulsion to do everything quickly, or a chronic feeling of being short of time, attributed to the fast pace of modern life and causing symptoms such as anxiety and insomnia.

Let’s add symptoms like divorce, drug abuse, adultery, alcohol abuse, patient neglect and “eff you” syndrome. And we spent all of those years studying and preparing for a nice, comfortable life.

Hurry Sickness! How long are we going to stay stupid?

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