BehindTheMedspeak: "Nearly half of doctors report symptoms of burnout"

Up top, a headline from an article in yesterday's USA Today.

Long story short: "The Mayo Clinic reports nearly 1 in 2 (45.8%) of the nation's doctors already suffer a symptom of burnout."

Huh.

Could've fooled me, 'cause there's no scent of burnout around these parts.

Of course, I have Gray Cat (above, in the midst of a counseling session) to minister to me when the going gets tough.

Other doctors aren't nearly so fortunate.

But I digress.

More excerpts from Janice Lloyd's story below.

Differences varied by specialty: Emergency medicine, general internal medicine, neurology and family medicine reported the highest rates. The authors note other studies show burnout can decrease the quality of care, lead to increased risk for errors and push doctors into early retirement, as well as cause problems in their personal lives.

Being asked to see more patients and not getting enough time with them create an atmosphere of "being on a hamster wheel," says physician Jeff Cain, president-elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Also highlighted in the report: Physicians were more likely to complain of burnout than other U.S. workers. When asked about emotional exhaustion, 37.9% of physicians reported signs, compared with 27.8% reported by other workers surveyed.

Participants completed a 22-item Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire, considered the gold standard for measuring burnout. The issues examined were emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (treating patients as objects rather than human beings) and low sense of personal accomplishment. Of 27,276 physicians asked to participate, 7,288 (26.7%) responded.

"Depersonalization (treating patients as objects rather than human beings)": I'll have more to say on this subject — and why depersonalization can be lifesaving — in a future BehindTheMedspeak post.