Support Systems

Hello lovely people, todays blog is going to be a short one just because I have to get some sleep so that I won't get ill over these next few days. So today I'm going to be talking about having a good group of people in your life to support you. I think that this is an important topic for the high stress of the veterinary profession and the university course and for life in general.

When I say support system I mean the tight group of friends and family in which you confide in and who really know you. Now for me this really is a very small number of people, I would say my best friend and my parents and maybe my best friends mum because I'm basically adopted into that family. Now these are the people in which I say I can tell anything to however last year when I went through a very low phase the only person I told was my swim coach. I cannot praise this man enough he always gave me the best advise and would sit and listen to me ramble on and on. He was always the first one to notice when something was off with me and I am so grateful for everything he did for me. Sadly I'm no longer one of his swimmers so this year I've not really had someone I'm willing to tell everything too. So I've taken to writing a lot of things down, this helps me because seeing it written down allows me to analyse my thoughts and putting them into words makes me have to be rational. My support system though it is small works well for me because I'm an independent person for someone who needs to have people constantly surrounding them then having a larger support system will work for them, however I must say that in a larger support system make sure that all of the people are genuine and actually care about you and your wellbeing, this may sound selfish however for the inner circle of support you really need people who will always be there for you through thick and thin.

In the veterinary profession I think that it is vital to have a good support system, the job itself is very stressful so having someone within the practice that you can talk to about your worries and stresses I think is very important. This bond can take years to build with people so I can understand that it won't always be the case. For new vets entering a practice straight from university I think that there should have to be a set up for them where they can talk to someone are receive mentoring because though you've been taught everything at university real life practice is always slightly different. Also having someone at home or out of work that you can talk to is so important. I know you can't as a vet tell people outside of work about patients but if you've had a tough day make sure to voice it to someone or write it down and think of why it was rough. And if you are a university student then there will be a dedicated member of staff always available to talk to. Please please know that it is not sad if you go and speak to them admitting that there is something wrong is the biggest hurdle and the person who can admit it is a strong strong person. Also at university you can speak to people from the student union or years above you because what you are going through they've also gone through so maybe they can help you.

A support team is so important and if you ever feel too overwhelmed remember there are dedicated veterinary helplines that are open 24 hours, and for other people there are always free call lines where you can call up anonymously and just talk to them. Even if they don't know you it will help because they are unbiased and can give their view on the matter and it can help you think about it in a different way.

So that's the end of the blog. Ask yourself who is in your support system? Some personal news I GOT AN OFFER FROM LIVERPOOL !! I'm so happy an grateful words cannot describe how happy I am I thought that this year I may not get any offers due to the two rejections but I am so happy with this offer and I'll keep you posted on any other news. Thank you all so much for reading, the next post I do will be after Christmas so I hope you all enjoy the festivities and have a wonderful time with your families.  

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