When a patient dwells on a thought to the point of feeling extremely anxious and overwhelmed, I sometimes teach them to approach those thoughts with the following metaphor: Grab onto [the thought] briefly in your hand, then let it go like a feather. Perhaps I need to practice more of what I preach. I have several complex patients who require contant monitoring and found it difficult NOT to think about a few of them during recent trips out of town. Did I prescribe too high of a dose? Will my patient be suicidal and land in the ER? Will my supervisor think I was an idiot for giving that medication? No doctor is perfect, but I do need to learn how to leave work behind (for the sake of maintaining my own sanity).