Rx For Burnout: How Doctors Can Bounce Back From Burnout

As healthcare professionals, doctors are responsible for the lives and well-being of their patients. However, the physically and mentally demanding job gives little time for rest and recreation. Also, globally, doctors are often expected to work long hours with little time off. They are also frequently interrupted during their personal time to attend to emergency cases. All this inevitably leads to burnout.

In fact, burnout is so common that the World Health Organization has included it in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon. It is not a medical condition, however, it is definitely dangerous enough to impair anyone from working with their full mental and physical capabilities.

Burn-out is defined in ICD-11 as follows:

“Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:

• feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
• increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
• reduced professional efficacy.

We can summarize burnout as a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that can have serious consequences for both the doctor and their patients.

Like with any disease, we need to look at the root cause and treat it rather than try temporary bandaids. The good news is, burnouts can be prevented, as much as it is possible to recoup from them.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss how doctors can safeguard themselves from burnout.

Tips for doctors to prevent the burnout blues

Prevention is better than cure rings true for burnout as well. Here are some ways how doctors can prevent burnout blues and maintain their healthy selves:

1. Prioritize self-care

Self-care is essential for anyone involved in a mentally and physically demanding job. Doctors who are required to take tough decisions and execute them with physical accuracy must maintain their mental and physical health at all times with adequate amounts of self-care.

This calls for getting enough sleep (at least 8 straight hours), eating a healthy diet of greens, physical exercise, and taking periodic breaks whenever needed. It is also necessary to prioritize activities that they enjoy outside of work, such as spending time with family, socializing with friends, reading, listening to music, or pursuing a hobby that will let them reset themselves from the grind of everyday work.

2. Seek support

Society expects doctors to be the ultimate source of support. However, it is alright for doctors themselves to seek support whenever they feel the need for it. Their support system could include a spouse, a friend, or even a professional like a therapist. Additionally seeking support from colleagues, or participating in a support group can also help in letting out the steam accumulated from everyday stress of attending to critical cases.

Most hospitals and medical associations are in the process of setting up resources and facilities for counseling services and wellness programs that are aimed at elevating doctors from slipping into burnout.

3. Set work-life boundaries

On a global level, the pandemic blurred the time boundaries for every profession. For doctors, it proved to be an intense period where work and life merged and integrated into one. Unfortunately, the period also made several doctors forget their work-life boundaries and spend more time at work responding to the call of duty.

This is extremely unhealthy and a sure recipe for burnout. It’s important for doctors to set boundaries to avoid overwork and burnout. This can be achieved by limiting work hours, delegating tasks to junior doctors, and by setting realistic goals. Doctors should also understand that it is not humanly possible for an individual to attend to all cases and provide resolutions.

4. Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness has caught on as a global trend. It is common knowledge that the current generation has the attention span that doesn’t last more than 8 seconds. To make things worse, anxiety, panic attacks, and allied mental disorders have become commonplace. Doctors are no exception to this since they are also facing the same mental health challenges and troubles that plague rest of the world, if not at a higher level.

Fortunately, mindfulness has an answer to this growing mental health pandemic. At its core, mindfulness is a practice that can help doctors reduce stress and promote well-being. This can include simple breathing exercises, meditation, or yoga. Many hospitals and medical associations offer mindfulness training programs for healthcare professionals.

5. Take time off

The healthcare profession does not enjoy long holidays and time offs some other professions do. In fact, it is a round-the-clock functioning profession at its best. However, that should never be a reason for doctors to shy away from utilizing their time off. They should make it a priority to take time off whenever needed.

This can include taking a vacation or simply taking a day off to rest and recharge. Occasionally wellness time off to spend time with oneself or in the company of nature is also recommended to avoid burnout.  All said, it is important for doctors to prioritize their own well-being in order to provide the best possible care for their patients.

Rx or burnout: How doctors can prevent burnout