Identifying Burnout in Medical Students
Burnout in Medical Students Burnout has become a serious threat to the health of medical students these days. This is especially true among senior medical students with a heavy workload paired with other emotional factors. Students can often succumb to depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue, impaired concentration & attention, anger, and insomnia. Burnout causes personal and professional imbalance and is insidious in nature, often a person barely realizes he/she is on the borderline of burnout. The classic symptoms of burnout fall into 3 categories- Social, Attitude, and Physical. · Social symptoms : This is seen when a person becomes much more irritable, lonely, uninterested in family matters, feels/displays lack of intimacy, and excessive anger. · Attitude symptoms : This can present as avoiding work & responsibilities, loss of confidence, increased dependence on drugs & alcohol, as well as a wide spectrum of emotional turbulence. ·