My journey towards overcoming burnout has been a long one. My process of self-education to gain a firm grasp of what burnout is and its root causes has been quite the journey. Quite frankly, the consolidation of what I now call The Burnout Triad developed after I submitted the final manuscript for
“The Soul-Sucking, Energy-Draining Life of A Physician: How To Live A Life of Service Without Losing Yourself” In all honesty, this might lead to delaying what was going to be my second book, “Deception,” to focus on writing about this important topic.
Ten-plus years into my career, I hit what I thought was rock bottom. After years of pushing myself to stand back up repeatedly, after the pressure of my career and life knocked me to the ground, I had nothing left to give. I felt like my joy and energy had been sucked from me. It was replaced with
cynicism, frustration, and disillusionment with working within the medical system. I wanted to quit. To not completely fall apart, I did something I had never done before–take a break from practicing
medicine.
Years of feeling taken for granted, unrealistic work hours and expectations, and then, finally, what broke me was near-death experiences for my newborn daughter and myself. Having previously worked in a healthcare system, I served faithfully for years, but having had that system fail me during my most vulnerable moments, I gave in and finally said “yes to self” and my health and happiness. The journey of
discovery and healing wasn’t easy, but progress continues to this day. The book, “ The Soul-Sucking, Energy-Draining Life of A Physician,” captures a section of that healing process, and quite frankly, future work from me will show even more.