WE’LL GIVE YOU the good news first: Surveys show that one side effect of the pandemic is that we’re all more productive. Whoop, whoop! The bad news: Some experts think it’s because so many of us are working longer hours. American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger, Ph.D., first popularized the term burnout…
Podcast: Avoiding burnout and tending to mental health as the pandemic runs into a second year
A new episode of our podcast, “Show Me the Science,” has been posted. At present, these podcast episodes are highlighting research and patient care on the Washington University Medical Campus as our scientists and clinicians confront the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s been a year since the first COVID-19 cases started appearing…
Mindfulness app may help address physician anxiety, burnout
As novel coronavirus cases continue to increase across the nation, health professionals on the front lines face frightening realities, rising anxiety and the very real potential for burnout. “Health care providers are under tremendous pressure right now,” said Dr. Jud Brewer, director of research and innovation at the Mindfulness Center…
Parental burnout can lead to harmful outcomes for parent and child
When the daily stress of parenting becomes chronic it can turn into parental burnout, an intense exhaustion that leads parents to feel detached from their children and unsure of their parenting abilities, according to research published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. This type…
Let's ditch motivational quotes and the burnout they inspire
I remember exactly when I realised how much I hated burnout culture – it was when the vegetables told me to ‘hustle harder’. Those were the words carved into cucumber at a WeWork water cooler, shared on Twitter. It was followed by photo evidence of ‘Don’t stop when you’re tired,…
Fitness burnout is real – here's how to spot the signs
Fitness burnout can be different for everyone who experiences it – but it should always be taken really seriously. Burnout is sneaky – it can be hard to notice the signs. When you workout a lot it’s normal to feel tired, right? It’s normal for your body to ache, right?…
Work-related burnout affects many of us. Here’s how to beat it
When Lisa Murray was 39, she felt like her world was falling apart. She was working as an operations manager at a job she says was wildly understaffed and underfunded. Consequently, Lisa was burning the candle at both ends, putting in extra-long days to stay on top of her workload….