At 68 my temperament is one of not sweating the small stuff, simultaneously acknowledging most of not all of it is small stuff. Alas though, it wasn't always that way.
Marriage break-up, addiction recovery and career change came in my 40's. Back then I didn't realise, like you, that I was creating unconsciously that which I wanted.
I am grateful for my life and grateful for the intimacy (into - me - see) contained in your share today.
What a read! As a young adult just over a year away from entering the real world and getting a job (currently at university), these type of stories offer great insight.
I believe to be great in any field, you have to sacrifice things.
Those sacrifices shape the rest of your life.
If the reward of the pursuit is greater than the sacrifices,
Your article resonated- I experienced burnout last year with all the factors you mentioned apart from depersonalisation. It’s work environment-related and studying for a MSc at the same time. I learned the hard way that my work environment wasn’t going to change, despite my burnout efforts (at least not in the short term), so I had to.
I realised I had to prioritise myself and focused on exercise, getting consistent, and sorting out my diet. What that did was boost my resilience!
Thanks for sharing your post, it certainly gave me pause for thought.
A very honest personal article . Thank you for sharing it -it is never easy to disclose intimate details like this. A career in Medicine with much of it involving teaching brings home to me how macho and hard an environment it can be and such a a high price so many medics - and thir families - pay for their commitment. Medicine needs to shape its practice that allows for more personal time and I believe the influx of more women will help shape this . Good wishes John
Thank you Dr. Barrett for showing us burnout is not weakness but insight and resilience. Book preordered and looking forward to that.🙏🏼 thank you for your insight
This is a great article, but it's worth considering that there can be other influences on what we call "burnout", too. It turned out that my burnout, which I also ignored, waiting for a way out to appear, was due to serious mental health problems from a bad childhood. I ignored my exhaustion for so long, because I was achieving, and was well respected, and couldn't make sense of why everything felt so difficult. But my brain couldn't hold the line anymore, and I had what I call a mental health breakdown in my 40s. I didn't realize that there were key people in my life who were toxic, and had influenced these "choices" of mine since I was a child. I didn't know that a lifetime of pressure to achieve and to deny my own personality would land me with Complex PTSD, but that's what happened, and that's why I felt like I was burning out - my brain was screaming at me to change, as this article points out. But I couldn't see why any of this should be hurting me, so I ignored my burnout symptoms. I can see one of my brothers is in the same boat - always servicing this magical ideal of achieving that we had beaten into us as children. Always trying to get approval from our mother, who we now know has a personality disorder - as far as we knew, we had a normal childhood, with reasonable expectations. Yet there was no empathy - a big clue! Now, as I look around at my past colleagues, I see it in some of them, too. An irrational drive to achieve, to please, but not for themselves - for their parents. My suspicions are that living your life to meet someone else's ideals is what is toxic, and leads to burnout. But sometimes its hard to see it, and easier to deny, and just keep going. One foot in front of the other. Pay your taxes, keep the cycle going. This article is very important to start a dialogue within yourself, but it's also worth exploring WHY it's so hard to accept that you're not happy - it could be from trauma. Not your fault, but yours to fix, and yours alone. If anyone is feeling burnt out, please don't wait to get help. Or you could end up like me with CPTSD, which will now be with me forever. Also, it's really pretty awesome to finally be doing something for me, for my ideals, to make me happy, and not for anyone else. I wish you all courage to seek a trauma therapist if you're feeling burnt out, to ask for help, to admit that things are not ok, and that maybe its because your servicing someone else's ideals. I wish I had.
Hi Dr. Barrett - great article - just watched your podcast on doctor burnout. The current corporate hospital landscape does not lend itself to humanized health care. My general surgeon husband is currently on sabbatical for burnout reasons. I totally support him taking some time off. Will be a waste of talent and medical experience if he doesn't go back to work as a surgeon. Many of our young doctor buddies leaving and not coming back. Does not bode well for the future of health care but I understand first-hand why they need to do that for personal reasons.
Burnout and leaving aren’t the only 2 or even best 2 options: you can also change your mindset about what you want/expect/need from the job, so you can also keep things you like about the job.
Heartfelt thanks Paddy, a generous share.
At 68 my temperament is one of not sweating the small stuff, simultaneously acknowledging most of not all of it is small stuff. Alas though, it wasn't always that way.
Marriage break-up, addiction recovery and career change came in my 40's. Back then I didn't realise, like you, that I was creating unconsciously that which I wanted.
I am grateful for my life and grateful for the intimacy (into - me - see) contained in your share today.
For me, that is the best article you have shared- thank you. Book ordered and looking forward to reading how to not burn out the heart
Great read Dr Paddy, thanks! Wishing you well for your book launch. Look forward to reading here in Ireland ☘️
What a read! As a young adult just over a year away from entering the real world and getting a job (currently at university), these type of stories offer great insight.
I believe to be great in any field, you have to sacrifice things.
Those sacrifices shape the rest of your life.
If the reward of the pursuit is greater than the sacrifices,
Then go ahead.
If the sacrifices outweigh the reward,
Then re-think.
Hi Paddy!
Your article resonated- I experienced burnout last year with all the factors you mentioned apart from depersonalisation. It’s work environment-related and studying for a MSc at the same time. I learned the hard way that my work environment wasn’t going to change, despite my burnout efforts (at least not in the short term), so I had to.
I realised I had to prioritise myself and focused on exercise, getting consistent, and sorting out my diet. What that did was boost my resilience!
Thanks for sharing your post, it certainly gave me pause for thought.
A very honest personal article . Thank you for sharing it -it is never easy to disclose intimate details like this. A career in Medicine with much of it involving teaching brings home to me how macho and hard an environment it can be and such a a high price so many medics - and thir families - pay for their commitment. Medicine needs to shape its practice that allows for more personal time and I believe the influx of more women will help shape this . Good wishes John
Thank you Dr. Barrett for showing us burnout is not weakness but insight and resilience. Book preordered and looking forward to that.🙏🏼 thank you for your insight
This is a great article, but it's worth considering that there can be other influences on what we call "burnout", too. It turned out that my burnout, which I also ignored, waiting for a way out to appear, was due to serious mental health problems from a bad childhood. I ignored my exhaustion for so long, because I was achieving, and was well respected, and couldn't make sense of why everything felt so difficult. But my brain couldn't hold the line anymore, and I had what I call a mental health breakdown in my 40s. I didn't realize that there were key people in my life who were toxic, and had influenced these "choices" of mine since I was a child. I didn't know that a lifetime of pressure to achieve and to deny my own personality would land me with Complex PTSD, but that's what happened, and that's why I felt like I was burning out - my brain was screaming at me to change, as this article points out. But I couldn't see why any of this should be hurting me, so I ignored my burnout symptoms. I can see one of my brothers is in the same boat - always servicing this magical ideal of achieving that we had beaten into us as children. Always trying to get approval from our mother, who we now know has a personality disorder - as far as we knew, we had a normal childhood, with reasonable expectations. Yet there was no empathy - a big clue! Now, as I look around at my past colleagues, I see it in some of them, too. An irrational drive to achieve, to please, but not for themselves - for their parents. My suspicions are that living your life to meet someone else's ideals is what is toxic, and leads to burnout. But sometimes its hard to see it, and easier to deny, and just keep going. One foot in front of the other. Pay your taxes, keep the cycle going. This article is very important to start a dialogue within yourself, but it's also worth exploring WHY it's so hard to accept that you're not happy - it could be from trauma. Not your fault, but yours to fix, and yours alone. If anyone is feeling burnt out, please don't wait to get help. Or you could end up like me with CPTSD, which will now be with me forever. Also, it's really pretty awesome to finally be doing something for me, for my ideals, to make me happy, and not for anyone else. I wish you all courage to seek a trauma therapist if you're feeling burnt out, to ask for help, to admit that things are not ok, and that maybe its because your servicing someone else's ideals. I wish I had.
Hi Dr. Barrett - great article - just watched your podcast on doctor burnout. The current corporate hospital landscape does not lend itself to humanized health care. My general surgeon husband is currently on sabbatical for burnout reasons. I totally support him taking some time off. Will be a waste of talent and medical experience if he doesn't go back to work as a surgeon. Many of our young doctor buddies leaving and not coming back. Does not bode well for the future of health care but I understand first-hand why they need to do that for personal reasons.
Burnout and leaving aren’t the only 2 or even best 2 options: you can also change your mindset about what you want/expect/need from the job, so you can also keep things you like about the job.