Response to the "Letter to the Editor response to The Weight Beneath the White Coat: Professional Stress, Help-Seeking Barriers, and the Hidden Grief of Doctors"

Abstract

We agree that supervision, when well organised and practised, could address several of the issues we raised in the paper. We would also like to point out that supervision that is unhelpful or absent could have adverse consequences on stress and help-seeking behaviours in doctors. At times, the focus of supervision is on the normative aspects to the neglect of its formative and restorative functions. Indeed, the concept of clinical supervision is often lacking in medical training in India.

We agree that Balint groups and other reflective spaces can significantly help reduce professional stress.  Like the authors, we hope that faculty and trainees in other specialties will also recognise the importance of initiatives that help lower stress levels and promote the well-being of doctors.