The pharmaceutical industry isn’t meant for people who have a hard time handling stress. This field can become extremely overwhelming with regulated protocols and operating procedures. It’s no wonder that a study in 2015 showed that 65% of pharmacists showed a severe increase in their stress levels.
Not to mention that if you don’t manage stress when working in this specific field, it could potentially lead to mistakes when handling someone else’s medications. This could be life-altering for someone on the receiving end, leading to more compilations or legal situations in the future for yourself.
If you work in pharma and have been noticing your stress becoming hard to manage, here are a few tips that might be able to help.
Find a Work-Life Balance
Pharma is an incredibly competitive industry that requires a lot of work. Some positions allow for a typical 9-to-5 workday, while others require 80 or more hours per week with a focus on sales. It can be difficult with those extra hours to find any type of work-life balance in the pharma industry. The key is to make the time!
Balance isn’t something that will all of a sudden happen one day. It has to be worked for. Sometimes it also requires asking for help. Talk to your supervisor or manager about what it would look like within your company to switch up your hours or even to work a little less throughout the week. See if there is a way they can help you navigate a new plan to reduce your workload.
Take Care of Your Mental Health
More workplaces are promoting the care of mental health for their employees. This is because businesses are seeing how declining mental health can make a huge impact on overall productivity. The less productive their employees are, the more money they lose through healthcare costs and time lost at work.
Businesses in several industries are offering mental health services as a part of their overall healthcare packages. This might be in the form of a copay deduction, or even with a prepaid credit card that allows employees to pay for their services as needed.
Aside from therapy, there are other things you can do to help manage your mental health. Deep breathing and mindful meditation can do wonders for managing stress. It also can result in a better night’s sleep which can be a huge trigger when attempting to manage our emotions throughout the workday.
Manage Your Financial Debt
Those who work in the pharmaceutical and medical fields know a thing or two about debt. More than likely, they have significantly more student loan and credit card debt than those who may have attended a traditional university or four-year college. Because of this, lenders have found a way to be able to help those who are needing to buy a home despite their accumulated debt.
Physician loans offer specialized loans meant for those in the medical profession. These types of loans typically offer jumbo loan balances, have minimal monthly mortgage payments, and they don’t require mortgage insurance like a standard or conventional loan. That way you can still continue to move forward with your life without feeling held back by restraining debt.
If you are starting to feel stressed or are on the edge of burnout, don’t ignore it. Brushing your problems under the rug and pretending like you can continue moving forward with your work will only lead to further issues.
These issues could impact the lives of others. Don’t hesitate to ask for help and always make sure to take care of yourself first before trying to manage the care of others.
