May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and ACEP’s Professional Wellness Section has recommendations to help emergency physicians prioritize their mental health.

With emergency physicians constantly asked to do more with less, it is more important than ever to address the systems and structures that fuel burnout. At the same time, ACEP works to empower every emergency physician with practical tools, evidence-based strategies, and shared expertise to thrive on the job.

Now is the time to recognize the importance of wellness at work:

1. Acknowledge it’s not just “burnout,” it’s systemic harm. Whether it is the boarding crisis, concerns about violence, or other persistent challenges, there are forces beyond any one physician’s control making it harder to care for patients. It is important to recognize that these are not personal failures––they are systemic challenges. Find in-depth solutions to counteract systemic harm in ACEP’s wellness guidebook, “From Self to System: Being Well in Emergency Medicine.”
2. Have empathy for yourself, just as you do for patients. Treat yourself with the same level of care that you would offer a colleague after a difficult code or a patient who needs to hear some bad news. To practice self-compassion in emergency medicine, read “The Voice in Our Heads.”
3. Take “Second Victim Syndrome” seriously. Second Victim Syndrome refers to the severe distress experienced by healthcare professionals after being involved in an adverse event while caring for the “first victim,” or patient. If medical error or litigation results, it can become traumatic. Don’t isolate yourself—instead, utilize this Litigation Stress resource.
4. Focus on what you can control. You may not solve all of society’s ills today. Prioritize the health and wellness of your immediate team and look at your group’s “micro-culture,” to assess what can be done. Learn to be a Well Workplace and how to run a peer support program in your emergency department with ACEP resources and consider attending a live training session at ACEP26 in Chicago October 5–8.