Our hospital provides an opportunity to try activity bracelets, in hope of encouraging the employers to find a healthier lifestyle. I have dance classes most days a week and on one of the remaining two days I usually go Nordic walking. So basically I should know that I get exercise. But I was very excited to see it documented by the activity bracelet. However a great disappointment emerged. First the bracelet did not acknowledge my effort in ballet class at all! I was not taking steps and not burning calories. (!!) Further I noticed it did not count my (brisk, effective!) steps when I go to and come from the dance classes. I have a habit f carrying my dance bag on my left shoulder, and consequently my left had does not move forth and back as I walk. Thus, the silly bracelet does not record any steps. I am insulted! I have to start carrying the bag on right side. Of course one could ask why is it so important to me to get those step counts etc acknowledged by the bracelet when I know anyway whether or not I have excercised? Is the bracelet helping me to gain a healthier lifestyle or only giving me silly worries? – Nevertheless, I go on wearing it and observing whether I sleep well…
One day past month I attended two big meetings (activity bracelet gave me 3 passivity warnings) in both of which one important topic of discussion was recruiting trainee doctors. Of course the hospital is interested in recruiting doctors. But the university has not paid particularly lot of attention in medical specialist training past years. Might this be an important sign of change that specialist education was discussed in the meeting of the professors in School of Medicine, first time that I have noticed?
Psychiatric specialties in Finland have worrying prospects regarding number of specialists in ten years. More doctors will be retiring than graduating from specialist education, if not an improvement in recruiting trainees is seen soon. This is unfortunate, since mental disorders are for example in adolescents the most important contributor to their disease burden globally. Mental disorders are particularly detrimental during adolescent development, since it is a period of a myriad of choices in the fields of education, health behaviours, lifestyle and social relationships. During this vulnerable period, opportunities lost due to mental disorders are difficult to catch up, and mental disorders during adolescence have a negative impact on multiple domains of life, long beyond the actual symptoms have recovered. Thus, it is of outmost importance to detect adolescent mental disorders early, and treat them effectively. On the other hand, adolescence is a period of great opportunities. Adolescents have flexibility that adults can only dream of. Adolescent development tends to straighten itself as soon as circumstances allow. Not to mention that working with adolescents is always interesting: their surprise potential offers a lifelong learning opportunity for the professionals working with them. (If there was an intellectual/mental activity bracelet, it would certainly shoot illumination every day for those working in adolescent psychiatry.)
Public discussion in Finland has over the past decade increasingly acknowledged the importance of mental health in adolescence, and the need for developmentally appropriate mental health services, both preventive and treatment focused. Public discussion is also quick to assume that adolescent mental disorders are all increasing. This is fortunately not the case. There is no epidemiological evidence, in Finland or elsewhere, that adolescent mental disorders would be all increasing. My research group has actually found that among 15 year olds in Tampere, for example, many symptoms have decreased and protective factors increased over a period of 10 years. But mental disorders are nevertheless the most important contributor to disease burden in adolescence, and effective services are needed for timely treatment. So, welcome young doctors!