In 2022, I became a patient, experiencing palpitations and then health anxiety. I had worked for 15 years in the UK's National Health Service (NHS) specialising in preventative cardiology and stress medicine. The tables had turned! After years of helping patients improve their health, I found myself on 'the patient side' of healthcare. The experience was confusing, stressful, sometimes scary, and often gloomy. But, as noted by Professor Stephen Hawking, "However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do to improve it". So I started my own self-care journey. This experience taught me some important lessons:
• To manage my health proactively, in other words to take more responsibility for my own health and do more 'self-care'.
• To double-check health information, especially to ensure it is relevant to me and my individual circumstances.
• To cope better emotionally, or at least try to!
• To prioritise important lifestyle changes and seek to maintain them.
These simple steps made a big difference and my physical and psychological health improved significantly. Now I seek to help others achieve better physical and emotional health, so they can feel at ease, accomplish goals, and enjoy life.
- Dr Richard Williams, Founder & CEO
