Post Author: Tomi Mitchell, MD

Tomi Mitchell is a family physician and founder, Dr. Tomi Mitchell Holistic Wellness Strategies. She can be reached on Twitter @DrTomiMitchell, Facebook, Pinterest, and Clubhouse.
Dr. Mitchell is a multifaceted, dynamic speaker with over a decade of experience in presenting, public speaking, and training, a talented individual. She is very passionate about the topics that are dear to her heart. She is able to leverage her decades plus experience as a board-certified family physician, as well as her multiple coaching credentials. She is well-traveled and well-spoken and able to connect to the heart and minds of those who listen to her when she speaks.
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She’s an experienced, personable clinician with over 10 years of experience providing client-focused, community-based care. She is also a parent, a wife, and an entrepreneur who understands the competing demands of family and work. From personal experience and collective work experience, she has seen how many life problems are rooted in mental wellness and our mindset. She is passionate about mental health and helping eliminate the stigmas associated with mental health and stress.
Dr. Mitchell is the host of The Mental Health & Wellness Show, contributor, Brainz Magazine and Thrive Global.

Tomi Mitchell is a family physician and founder, Dr. Tomi Mitchell Holistic Wellness Strategies. She can be reached on Twitter @DrTomiMitchell, Facebook, Pinterest, and Clubhouse.
Dr. Mitchell is a multifaceted, dynamic speaker with over a decade of experience in presenting, public speaking, and training, a talented individual. She is very passionate about the topics that are dear to her heart. She is able to leverage her decades plus experience as a board-certified family physician, as well as her multiple coaching credentials. She is well-traveled and well-spoken and able to connect to the heart and minds of those who listen to her when she speaks.
.
She’s an experienced, personable clinician with over 10 years of experience providing client-focused, community-based care. She is also a parent, a wife, and an entrepreneur who understands the competing demands of family and work. From personal experience and collective work experience, she has seen how many life problems are rooted in mental wellness and our mindset. She is passionate about mental health and helping eliminate the stigmas associated with mental health and stress.
Dr. Mitchell is the host of The Mental Health & Wellness Show, contributor, Brainz Magazine and Thrive Global.
The COVID-19 pandemic helped bring out people’s true colors. After two years of the unrelenting pressures of the pandemic, people’s true colors came out, and I will have a frank about this truth. As physicians, we often put our patient’s comfort before ours, but at what point does one have to stop and reflect on this.
As physicians, we are often put on a pedestal and have unrealistic expectations. We want …
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High functioning depression (or HFD) is the mental health diagnosis given to an individual who exhibits symptoms of high-level depression but manages to maintain overall functionality in life. An HFD person will often engage in activities that would be considered “normal” and healthy for a typical person, maintaining a job and even social relationships (though they may not appear as close and involved as typically expected). However, they might find …
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Frankly, I am tired of this pandemic. I am tired of the death. I am tired of the destruction of families and the obliteration of vulnerable individuals’ social supports. I am tired of human issues being politicized and used as weapons to divide us further. I am tired of people being politically correct at the expense of what is better for society.
So, let me be bold, and say something almost …
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Did anyone else’s heart sink when you heard about the new COVID variant? Mine sure did. I wasn’t surprised when I heard the news. I felt numb as I know we are in for a challenging period, partially because the colder months are quickly approaching and Omicron has already been identified in numerous countries globally. Echoing the words of a science-fiction movie, “the alien(variant) in amongst us” resonated with many …
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It was as if my four-day-old daughter’s condition was not critical. It was as if I was not a clinician who could confidently assess and identify seizure episodes. It was as if there were no monitors blatantly showing critically low oxygen levels.
Nine long hours and still no response. I felt like I was begging for eternity. I had repeatedly approached the nurses’ station to get their attention and assess my …
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People often say health care professionals are often the worst patients. As health care professionals, we are well versed with what is needed to be healthy, but we struggle, like many other people, to consistently apply these principles.
Some reports indicate that as many as 50 percent of doctors experience symptoms of burnout, including emotional exhaustion, feel less enthusiastic about work, and lack personal accomplishment at some point during their career. …
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By now, many of you would have read my article, “Who needs scientists? It’s not like we listen to them anyway.” So, let me tell you another fiction story. But, first, I need to give you some background to this story.
Many of you would know about the theory of evolution by natural selection and how it explains the diversity we see today. It’s an excellent idea, and …
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But seriously, who needs scientists? It’s not like we listen to researchers or pay attention to the warnings. The world is burning up with record ground-breaking temperatures. These so-called scientists predicted these warnings decades ago, with great details. Who do they think they are? They got lucky! They are fear mongers and not to be believed. Look at the fake media! Landslides, earthquakes, fires, flooding, drought, and the list goes …
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I’m sure many people would agree that 2020 was catalytic for them. For me, it was the year I finally achieved 20/20 vision, and my eyes opened up to a world of reality. Up until this point in time, I had tried so hard to believe in hope. I found myself making excuses for other people’s behavior by doing too much compassion work on their behalf instead of taking care …
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Another COVID outbreak appears to be transpiring. As America celebrated significant milestones with vaccination efforts, many people were still spurred by misinformation, lack of evidence, and education. The COVID-19 vaccine naysayers are in all walks of society, from the uneducated to health care professionals. I think it’s fair to say that our civil liberties and part of our belief in freedom of choice will be the downfall of this nation. …
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The health care crisis is a difficult one to face. Health care budgets have skyrocketed, and rates of chronic illnesses have increased much faster than before. As physician leaders, what if we each took personal responsibility for the crisis? Perhaps it all boils down to how many people trained in health care know what is necessary for living healthy lifestyles. Yet, that knowledge often doesn’t materialize in excellent health outcomes. …
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The COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented as such an event has not happened on such a global scale since 1919, with the Spanish Flu. At the beginning of the pandemic, we sometimes heard muzzled voices of health care providers who experienced sheer horror due to the quickly escalating demand for urgent care, ICU beds, and ventilators.
It is important to note that these incidents were happening on an unprecedented scale due …
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Burnout among doctors is not something new. In fact, way before the pandemic, 69% of physicians reported they were somewhat or incredibly happy in 2020, before the pandemic started.
This number drastically fell to 49% when COVID-19 stepped in. This is a statistic that we need to be aware of.
For many of us, we embarked on our journey in medicine with naïve optimism. We stepped into medical school thinking about the …
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You’ve heard of the emotional impact of menopause on women, but did you know that it can also cause anxiety and depression? Mental health is a topic that many people don’t want to discuss due to concerns of stigma, fear, and perceived repercussions of the diagnosis. However, if this topic is raised with compassion and understanding, the patient will likely become more comfortable and open to the conversation. I found …
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There is a connection between mental health and what we eat. Food can be a surrogate for our emotional needs. We could say that you are what you eat, but the truth is more complicated than that. Our food habits often mirror how we’re doing emotionally-whether it’s as simple as eating when we’re hungry or tired or using food to respond to stress in our lives.
We should “trust our gut” …
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With the COVID-19 pandemic inflicting havoc on everyone, there is no doubt that physicians and other health care workers are most affected. The looming fear for yourself and your family adds to the current burden of responsibilities you encounter and conquer every day.
When the pandemic started in 2020, the struggle was about finding a cure and controlling the spread of the virus. With the advent of vaccines in 2021, the …
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Most of us have heard the phrase “success is about who you know,” and that couldn’t be more true. The people we surround ourselves with are a direct reflection of our life and success. One thing that affects this is emotional intelligence, or EQ for short. It’s not just about how smart you are; it also has to do with your ability to understand and manage your own emotions and …
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May 25th, 2021, marked the first anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. George Floyd was a victim of racial injustice. Tragically, he is not the only Black person to die at the hands of U.S. police officers over these past few years.
George Floyd’s death has brought renewed protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, first established back in 2013, after George Zimmerman’s acquittal, who shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed …
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Doctors have a few dirty little secrets. We have the highest rates of suicide amongst all professions and are in desperate need of mental health reform.
For those who don’t know what it’s like to work in this area, it can be difficult to understand the pressures that doctors face daily.
Doctors live their lives balancing an intense workload with long hours, often without any time for themselves or their families. Many …
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Fear is something that most of us have felt at one time or another. That feeling of being threatened, when you feel as though your current state is in jeopardy. It’s an instinctive reflex to flee or fight the threat. This instinct has been with us since our earliest moments on earth. Fear can be seen as a driver, too: that force that pushes us into making changes and responding …
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