TY - JOUR T1 - Staying afloat, swimming not sinking: how spending time in the greenhouse can help us get through the clinical day JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 222 LP - 223 DO - 10.3399/bjgp21X715841 VL - 71 IS - 706 AU - Jane H Roberts Y1 - 2021/05/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/71/706/222.abstract N2 - The day had been unusually tough.Monday morning on-call had included the cataclysmic event of a patient calling to report finding her husband had taken his own life. She was having a panic attack and reception had put through the call as urgent. The story ached with poignancy and pain and the grief being expressed was visceral. And there was other stuff lurking in the back of my mind; a patient complaint, a coroner’s report to write. My shoulders and lower back were getting ever more tense and my brain tired; the day was long. Thirteen hours after leaving the house that morning I was back home and frazzled. I needed to eat, connect with my family, and prepare for the next day. But first, the daily, evening ritual of watering the plants in the newly acquired greenhouse; a happier consequence of COVID-19’s devastation on our lives when long haul holidays evaporated and staycations became the new norm.I am a newbie to this world of growing and greenery but as I opened the door in the gloaming evening light the air in the greenhouse felt softer and I started to feel my adrenergic drive subside.The gentle activity of watering the plants and flowers and observing the small changes from the previous day brought a welcome calming effect and a lightening of mood. My pulse slowed down and shoulders relaxed. The liminal space of the glasshouse seemed to offer a tangible benefit. Could pottering in the greenhouse really mitigate against the toxic impact of work-related stress on our brains?There is no mistaking the pressure our profession is under. Even before the emergence of COVID-19 we were sinking. The 2019 GMC report, Caring for Doctors, Caring for Patients, shows GPs reporting the lowest levels of job satisfaction and … ER -