Exhibit: Ability to Calm Situations

Benchmark: Individuality

Skills: Calming effect on people

 

            “Calm minds bring inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health.”- Dalai Lama. This quote stands very true. When your body senses a threat, the stress response kicks in and releases a hormone called cortisol, which activates our flight-or-freeze response. The effects of cortisol are felt in a wide range of body systems. Your heart rate and breathing increase, blood pressure rises, and muscles tighten. In small doses, stress can help you perform under pressure. However, constant stress over long periods of time keeps the cortisol levels high and can lead to emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms; Too much of this hormone flooding a body’s cells can lessen the cells’ ability to protect themselves from disease, lengthen healing time of injuries, and also impair mental reasoning. My ability to calm people or diffuse a situation is important because stress or nervousness is easily avoidable and it causes unneeded strain on your body. 

        With so many things in this world that cause stress it is very important to be able to find a healthy way to prevent stress. I am a very calm person, I get stressed just as every other person does but I find healthy ways for me to get rid of this stress because I know years of stress have a big impact on your health. Not every day in my career is going to be a good day and I know that I will encounter many difficult procedures that come with a lot of pressure, which can cause a great deal of stress. I’ve always been the type to look at the big picture so looking past a certain situation that may be stressful has helped me in remaining calm and helped me not stress about the small things. Life is not always easy and it is your attitude that determines your quality of life.

            Due to my calm demeanor I am able to calm other people in stressful or unfavorable situations. For example while babysitting my boyfriend’s little brothers, I had to go pick them up from a birthday party. When I arrived at the birthday party they were both bickering and they had obviously been aggravated with each other. While in the car on our way home, I tried to distract them from their bickering after asking them what the problem was and if they had fun. I asked them simple questions such as “what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?” and also “what do you guys want to do when we get home?” by asking them these simple questions they instantly were distracted from what they were mad at each other for.

            Having this calming effect is important in dentistry because often, your patients will be nervous or stressed about a procedure and all you can do is assure them that they will be alright and distract them with pleasant thoughts. In dental school, you take several classes that involve communication barriers and interacting with patients. I know this aspect of dentistry will come easy to me because I am very personable and I am a good listener and I personally tend to like a health care professional more if they take a genuine interest in my health and I don’t feel like I am a generic patient. 

            Keeping yourself calm is not a hard thing to do. Whenever I start to feel stressed I take a few deep breaths and I focus on the end product instead of focusing on whatever may be presently negative in the situation. In order to prevent unnecessary stress you must always keep in mind it is not good for your mind, body, or soul and it does not have any positive effects.