I’m a Slow GP. I was once ashamed to say this. Now it’s my strength.

Hi I’m Tom. I’m a Slow GP. I was once ashamed to say this. Now it’s my strength. Here’s my journey.

I recently welcomed my 10,000th new contact after a post that drew 2,000 in a week.

It was on a topic that once made me feel ashamed. Being slow.

All my life I’ve done things quickly.

I speak, eat, move, study, think quickly.

Speed helped me. I passed school and med school with high marks.

Then one day I was forced to slow down. 

I was hit by sudden, severe depression. It felt like flu without the fever. Fog, fatigue..and fear.

Everything was slow. It was painful. I felt I couldn’t keep up with conversations or connections. 

I beat myself up for not meeting my own expectations.

I realised I was addicted to speed and achievement. And the withdrawal felt toxic.

I tried quick fixes that failed.

When I recovered I had more appreciation for suffering. 

I bounced in and out of depression & anxiety throughout medschool and GP training much like I bounced between fast and slow thinking.

And I realised I suffered more when I made quick judgements.

I didn’t make that person smile = They must think I’m boring

I needed to look that condition up = I’ve chosen the wrong career

I’m running late in clinic = I’m a bad doctor

Fast thoughts sometimes helped. They kept me up to date and pushing to improve. But they were burning me out.

Then I found TEAM CBT, created by David Burns.

With my therapist Peter Spurrier I learned to break down fast thinking.

It allowed me to be proud of the emotions and thoughts that caused me pain. They reflected my true values. The problem wasn’t negativity but intensity. Like a volume switch turned up to 11.

With slow thinking and 50 new tools I could finally turn the volume down.

Change happened slowly…then suddenly. Like a light switch turning off pain.

It was powerful. I vowed to train in TEAM CBT to see how, combined with GP it could change healthcare.

Because we are all trained in fast thinking. It fuels the world. It can save lives. It reduces overwhelm by making complexity seem simple.

But we’ve swung too far toward speed. Quick solutions to complex problems don’t work. 

Suffering made me slow down, sit down…and listen. 

Made me realise that mental or physical health conditions are not just to be fixed, but understood.

Pulling someone out of a pit sounds heroic, but unless you sit in that pit and believe their reasons for suffering, your outstretched arm will not be trusted. 

This takes time. True healing takes time. 

But it’s a two way process where patients and doctors must meet in the middle.

Patients must stop pressing for quick fixes. Doctors must stop pushing them. 

Systems must reward slow, sustainable solutions.

Otherwise the revolving door keeps spinning.

So to all doctors ashamed of slowing down and listening, I hear you. 

But realise your power. 

Because systems will change when we start to believe this collectively.

Slow is faster in the long run.

What do you think?