Neglecting Anxiety Produces Pain
Featured Article By Carla Hay-Perdue, DNP, FAIS
In her latest feature for Contentment magazine, Dr. Carla Hay-Perdue shares a profound realization sparked by a personal health crisis. What began as a debilitating case of tooth pain—eventually diagnosed as the physical manifestation of unconscious stress and jaw clenching—became the catalyst for a deeper understanding of the mind-body connection.
Dr. Hay-Perdue uses this experience to advocate for a “paradigm shift” in how nursing professionals manage stress. Instead of viewing anxiety as an external force to be managed, she introduces the Three Principles of Mind, Thought, and Consciousness as a roadmap back to our innate resilience.
Why This Matters for Nurse Coaches:
The Physical Cost of “Powering Through”: Carla illustrates how neglecting subtle anxiety doesn’t make it disappear; it simply drives it into the body, often resulting in physical pain or burnout.
Understanding the Source: The article explores the idea that our feelings are created by our thoughts in the moment, not by our patient loads or clinical environments.
Accessing Innate Wisdom: By quieting “analytical chatter” and connecting to a deeper “Universal Mind,” nurses can navigate high-pressure shifts with a sense of calm that doesn’t rely on “limited personal battery power.”
Read Carla’s full published article here.
“Stress management used to be my weak point. I realized that my feelings were always caused by my thoughts, not the situations themselves.”
— Dr. Carla Hay-Perdue
