Cost of living: Stress is the price you pay for being a physician

But there are ways to keep life in balance and avoid burnout.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. April 22/29, 2002.

One oncologist speaks of being "plucked bare," with nothing more to give. Another physician talks about feeling used up when the workday is done. A medical resident, exhausted and angry at the health system, confesses to praying that the ambulance brings only DOAs to the hospital.

When doctors express these feelings to John-Henry Pfifferling, PhD, they speak in tired voices, and their faces are masks of fatigue. They have crossed the line. They are no longer just another stressed member of the medical profession.

They are burned out.

"You are exhausted, you can't think straight, you can't listen and you can't care," said Dr. Pfifferling, director of the Center for Professional Well-Being in Durham, N.C.

For today's physicians, the risks of getting burned out on practicing medicine are greater than ever as you grapple with managed care hassles, lower reimbursements and rising medical liability insurance rates, according to stress management experts. Burned-out doctors may argue with staff, lack enthusiasm for their work, become depressed and make poor decisions, even mistakes.

In the worst cases, they get addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Sometimes they quit.

"Very commonly, doctors are opting out, finding other things to do," said Martin Doot, MD, president of the Federation of State Physician Health Programs and head of Illinois' physician health program.

And some physician suicides may be related to stress and burnout, counselors said.

Stress is a natural part of life for physicians. At its lowest levels, it can be a good thing, energizing doctors, pushing them to do their best. [...]