I remember being a kid, maybe nine or ten years old, rushing to my best friend’s house after school to play Mario Kart on his Nintendo. We would spend hours racing around 16-bit rainbow tracks, smashing blocks, and throwing bananas. I didn’t realize then that gaming could be more than entertainment, or that for some people it could one day become a healthy way to cope with stress.
Have you ever felt anxious because you weren’t confident with how to treat a specific patient? Join the club! This anxiety with new professionals, though, seems to lead to low confidence as a professional overall. So how do you gain professional confidence? Is it in knowing how to treat each patient you encounter or something else? This week I explore this question and content that professional confidence doesn’t lie in “knowing what to do” but knowing how to figure it out.
The year 2026 is upon us. As we usher in a New Year, for many, this is the opportunity to set a new goal, intention, or resolution. Did you set a New Year’s resolution? If so, statistically speaking, you’re not alone. A recent study by the Pew Research Center found one in three adults made at least one resolution, and over half of this group made more than one goal. Paradoxically, roughly 41% of those adults abandoned at least one goal (or all of them) by the end of the month (Garcia, 2024).
December often evokes a sense of nostalgia, bringing with it cherished childhood memories of family, friends, abundant food, and holiday music, like hearing Silent Night by the Temptations on indefinite repeat. However, for others, the holiday season presents a painful contrast—a constant reminder of losses and distant voices reflecting what is no longer there.
When we think about alcohol or substance abuse in the military, most of us jump to familiar explanations: PTSD, deployment trauma, combat stress. These are the headline drivers we expect to see on intake forms and clinical assessments. But lurking quietly, often unnoticed and unspoken, is another powerful risk factor, one that rarely makes it onto the paperwork or into clinical interviews: boredom.