Burn out in medicine
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐?
Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterised by three dimensions:
- Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
- Increased mental distance from oneโs job
- Feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy. *
In medicine, we can become quite used to seeing burn out in our patients, friends and family members, but not quite as good at recognising it in ourselves.
๐ฆ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ?
- Dreading going into work or looking ahead in your appointment book and worrying about the patients coming in ahead of time.
- Practicing increasingly defensive medicine- taking longer to write notes, making decisions based on fear of litigation alone or finding yourself overly preoccupied with the fear of litigation.
- Finding it difficult to switch off after work (thinking about patients and work tasks all the time), having your sleep negatively affected or struggling to relax when you do find time away from work.
- Increased likelihood of making clinical mistakes.
We talk a lot about the fact that #doctorsarepeopletoo here. Just like everyone else, we too have times when we struggle in our own lives.
There are resources available to support doctors with their mental health including:
- Doctors Health Advisory Services in every state http://www.dhas.org.au/
- Psychologists and counsellors- you can access on your own or via your GP.
- Balint groups https://balintaustralianewzealand.org/
- DRS4DRS https://www.drs4drs.com.au/
If you feel like any of these factors might apply to you, we urge you to please seek some support- your GP, psychologist/counsellor or coach are all great places to start.
โ
* https://www.who.int/…/28-05-2019-burn-out-an…