Secondary traumatic stress

[u/SignificanceJaded154]

Six years of medical school. Four years of residency. Four years as an attending physician. And until recently, I had never heard the term secondary traumatic stress.

The more I reflect on it, the more I realize how much training we receive in other areas. We learn to endure long hours, function in demanding environments, handle stress, adapt to unexpected situations, and sometimes even normalize less-than-ideal interactions between colleagues.

Yet very little attention is given to something else: the impact of being repeatedly exposed to other people's suffering, fear, loss and trauma.

What surprises me most is that it took me so long to realize that, yes, this is hard. Not because I didn't know what my job involved, but because so much of it had become normal. Every day we witness suffering, grief, fear and death—things that much of society rarely encounters so directly.

And now that I have become aware of it, I find myself wondering: where am I supposed to talk about it?

To my friends and family, many of these experiences sound like horror stories. My colleagues are often too busy, or cope through cynicism and dark humor. Yet these experiences affect us, whether we acknowledge it or not.

I think we need more spaces where healthcare workers can talk openly about these realities.

When did you first come across the concept of secondary traumatic stress? Did it resonate with your own experience in healthcare?

[u/Ok-Code-9096]

Recently a man was brought into the hospital i work at.

His wife came home and found him unconscious next to his exercise bike. Se called for help and soon a paramedic came along and helped with CPR.

In the hospital a huge intracranial haemorrhage was found, and he was shortly after declared braindead.

This was weeks before him and his wife were going to throw a huge party to celebrate him turning 40. When the wife came home and found him she was together with their 3 year old daughter and she was pregnant expecting their second child within a few months.

As a father of two this was pure horror..

But to answer your question; i don't really know who to talk with about such things. When talking to colleagues it often becomes a contest in who has the most grim horror stories. When talking to anyone else they either cant fathom the reality of it or they are freaked out.