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Are We Experiencing a Burnout Epidemic? (washingtonpost.com)
"Burnout is everywhere," reports the Washington Post.
"Caused in part by social media, the 24-hour news cycle and the pressure to check work email outside of office hours, it could hit you, too -- especially if you don't know how to nip it in the bud..." A recent report from Harvard and Massachusetts medical organizations declared physician burnout a public health crisis. It pointed out the problem not only harms doctors but also patients. "Burnout is associated with increasing medical errors," the paper said... Ninety-five percent of human resource leaders say burnout is sabotaging workplace retention, often because of overly heavy workloads, one [2017] survey found. Poor management contributes to the burnout epidemic. "Organizations typically reward employees who are putting in longer hours and replace workers who aren't taking on an increased workload, which is a systematic problem that causes burnout in the first place," says Dan Schawbel, research director of Future Workplace, the firm that conducted the survey along with Kronos
Part of the difficulty of pinpointing true burnout may be because burnout is a nonmedical term -- at least in the United States. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders doesn't list it as an illness. But other countries including France, Denmark and Sweden, do recognize burnout syndrome and consider it to be a legitimate reason to take a sick day from work.... For those who suspect they might be on the road to burnout, there are practical tools to mitigate it. Among others: physical exercise, sleep and positive social connection (the real kind, not the Facebook kind).
The Post also ran a follow-up article which suggests that to fight burnout, companies need to set reasonable work hours -- and develop a culture encouraging breaks and vacations.
"Caused in part by social media, the 24-hour news cycle and the pressure to check work email outside of office hours, it could hit you, too -- especially if you don't know how to nip it in the bud..." A recent report from Harvard and Massachusetts medical organizations declared physician burnout a public health crisis. It pointed out the problem not only harms doctors but also patients. "Burnout is associated with increasing medical errors," the paper said... Ninety-five percent of human resource leaders say burnout is sabotaging workplace retention, often because of overly heavy workloads, one [2017] survey found. Poor management contributes to the burnout epidemic. "Organizations typically reward employees who are putting in longer hours and replace workers who aren't taking on an increased workload, which is a systematic problem that causes burnout in the first place," says Dan Schawbel, research director of Future Workplace, the firm that conducted the survey along with Kronos
Part of the difficulty of pinpointing true burnout may be because burnout is a nonmedical term -- at least in the United States. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders doesn't list it as an illness. But other countries including France, Denmark and Sweden, do recognize burnout syndrome and consider it to be a legitimate reason to take a sick day from work.... For those who suspect they might be on the road to burnout, there are practical tools to mitigate it. Among others: physical exercise, sleep and positive social connection (the real kind, not the Facebook kind).
The Post also ran a follow-up article which suggests that to fight burnout, companies need to set reasonable work hours -- and develop a culture encouraging breaks and vacations.
Is there any sort of guideline/range/fuzzy-logic-set of behaviors or symptoms that indicate that you are definitely not/likely not/maybe/likely/definitely experiencing or approaching burnout? It seems like you'd want to be able to definitely rule it out as something that you're experiencing, unless it's an issue of work/life balance, which never seems to be possible.
If there was a way to make it contagious, I bet there would definitely be a push to address it somehow.
"i.
don't
give
a
fuck."
that's how to avoid this so-called burnout. when you have no fucks to give.. life is absolutely grand.
(in the presence of others, such as your boss, best to 'think it' not say it).
I rented a primitive cabin in NH this winter where there was no cell service within 10 miles. We had no power, plumbing - just a wood stove.
And it was fantastic...
I switched to this new job, in part because of their "unlimited vacation" policy. And as you are able to predict, I fell for some bullshit. My first year there I took like 3.5 weeks off when HR sent me a letter saying I needed to keep it under 3 weeks. Like wait a second, I thought it was UNLIMITED (as long as I got my shit done)?
I understand that companies do "unlimited" to prevent paying out for unused vacation time, but to limit it seems like the company wins both ways. I'm aware of plenty of coworkers who take less than a week vacation off per year. Morons.
I would GLADLY give up some pay for more vacation time. How do companies not realize employees need time to recharge their mental batteries, and it is at the benefit of the company to let them do so. Someone needs to teach companies and HR departments that after a certain point, more time spent in the office will only offer diminishing returns, and they truly need to support a work-life balance, not just say they do.
The shortage of doctors in the US may be, in part, to blame for their long hours and burnout. Their professional organizations have limited the number of medical school and residency slots, which partly explains how they're paid about twice as much as those in other developed countries. Given that a large majority of freshmen entering US universities have pre-med aspirations, there is no lack of potential doctors in the US. More reading here:
The problem of doctors’ salaries
https://www.politico.com/agend...
I can see where people would indeed be at risk of too much Burnout, given how many releases they have had.
The answer might be to take a step back for a while, and maybe not play the game that is Burnout.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Betteridge's law of headlines says so.
And not just physical but mental exhaustion. Because we're not shovelling coal all day people expect us to be just as quick, attentive and efficient after 10 solid hours doing mentally taxing work as we were when we walked in the door.
When you're taxing your brain for practically every second you're awake it, like every other muscle, is going to get tired and you're going to fuck up, be slower and generally less able to do what you do.
Implementing the vacations/more sick days/ etc would negatively affect stock values for shareholders. This is actually illegal for a corporation to do in the US, without providing concrete facts stating that it would lead to higher yields (good luck with that).
It's not an epidemic; it's another generation having a mid-life crisis and thinking they're the first generation to ever experience it.
But other countries including France, Denmark and Sweden, do recognize burnout syndrome and consider it to be a legitimate reason to take a sick day from work
Can you actually read TFA? For France, "No of subjects with acknowledged burnout syndrome (yr)" and "No of compensated subjects (yr)" is just one single person for 2015.
Workers who can study, keep pace with work and can learn new ideas.
Staff who never had to study a lot? Who never had to learn? Who never had to pass a lot of exams?
They can't be expected to have the needed skills. Don't hire people who could not understand much about learning.
Got some people who want to work for your brand?
Did they study and pass their exams?
No non academic considerations year after year?
Did the education they got given have any actual academic part?
Some simple questions when looking back over a persons past will find the people who can learn and study.
They have the skills and ability to grown your brand year after year. Not just take a wage.
No more staff that show up to work and expect to be helped and supported all day.
Staff who arrive late and who create long weekends by not been at work.
Stop brining people who cant and won't work into your brand and expecting them to work. They wont work.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Like AIDS, this "epidemic" is the result of behavioral choices that people could clearly avoid, but decide not to.
It's hard to sympathize when people do it to themselves.
-Styopa
... to meet expectations. After a while, it either hits you that it's just not worth it; and you choose what to do from there. Or you burnout trying.
I tend to rant.
I was an engineer. I burned out at about 19 years... or did I.
For my first 18 years, I worked unbelievably hard and long hours and was still effective. I won't bother detailing it because my experience in doing so is that it truly was unbelievable. People don't believe me when I describe those years.
I loved engineering. I am a creator. Every day I still find things to create, though these days my creations are rarely technical and only for myself.
At about 17 years into my career, I made a career mistake in taking a job that I thought was going to be an exciting engineering project. When I got there, the project turned out to be vapor and I had invested too much in the move to leave.
They moved me into management and gave me a pay boost for the extra responsibility. I was good at it. Management is nothing after years of successful project management with vastly more variables. But it gave me zero joy. I tried for a bit. But it didn't feed me. Depression took over. Drinking, etc. I finally quit, and I wasn't able to go back.
I've talked with many others who "burned out". In the majority, the burnout was similar to mine. I don't think it is what most imagine. It's more a disillusionment, a betrayal, or just falling off the ship and helplessly watching it sail away with no way to catch up.
I feel that, if I hadn't made that last career move, I'd still be spending long hours creating and loving every minute of it.
I have the life now that many claim to dream of. I dream of the life I had.
Not even that. It's Moral Injury: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Because Physicians aren't doing what they dreamed of doing, which is help the patient. The patient has become a product, and the physician is a wealth generator for the medical system.
This guy explains it very well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Doctors have to do an unbelievable amount of tedious paperwork. Not uncommon to visit a doctor and have him just announce your $name and stare at some paper while he barely makes eye contact with you.
Ok, why is this flamebait?
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