To Burnout or Engage?

     "The key dimensions of burnout include emotional exhaustion, feelings of cynicism and depersonalization (detachment from the job), and a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of personal accomplishment. Emotional exhaustion refers to feelings of being overextended and depleted of one’s emotional and physical resources. Exhaustion prompts efforts to cope by distancing oneself emotionally and cognitively from work. Depersonalization refers to negative, callous, or excessively detached responses to various aspects of the job and is another distancing mechanism.

     The greater the mismatch between the person and the work environment, the greater is the likelihood of burnout. 

     A better match or fit is associated with greater engagement with work.”
       Kearney MK. et al. Self-care of physicians caring for patients at the end of life: "Being connected... a key to my survival." Jama 2009; 301(11): 1155-64, E1.

     "We tend to approach pleasurable opportunities to promote well-being and survival, and conversely avoid or withdraw from painful experiences as protection from harm. This biological approach-avoid dichotomy underlies all motivational tendencies, forms the basis of emotion and promotes adaptation.

     We're biologically and culturally programmed to seek pleasure and avoid discomfort."

     But life includes not only pleasure, but also pain, as well as uncomfortable periods of growth that take "place beyond one’s comfort zone - in liminality *** - a state of in-between-ness & ambiguity.
     Avoidance of liminality is the basic obstacle to engagement. Mindfulness practice cultivates acceptance of, and the ability to work within, liminality, and should therefore improve engagement."
     Lovas J, Gold E, Neish N, Whitehorn D, Holexa D. Cultivating Engagement through Mindfulness Practice. Poster Presentation, American Dental Education Association annual meeting, March 19, 2012, Orlando, FL.

     *** See: http://www.johnlovas.com/2013/06/liminality-insight-into-emptiness.html

Photo: Brigitte Lorenz   http://www.brigittelorenz-photography.com/