During the evening news, we spoke to Eric Boydens, MD, and several colleague doctors about the establishment of 'Doctors for Doctors' (D4D). Doctors 4 Doctors wants to help doctors with burnout. In a moment you will hear from them. Meanwhile the broadcast, which was recorded in his orchard, was broadcasted on the VTM news. Curiously, I watched what our friend and colleague had to say when I got home.
Eric Boydens, MD & his patient tell their story about burnout
The story of his patient about burnout
In this broadcast his patient tells how she herself was going through burnout because of her positive professional dedication. She wanted to give all of herself to her job, and it was this dedication which made her cross the line. Her first response was disbelief.
The reflection by Eric Boydens, MD, about burnout
Eric Boydens, MD, tells us from his beloved anti-stress space, his orchard, how we have to pay attention to make sure we can quickly recognize this silent invisible illness. Burnout is a silent killer which we need to be careful of. "Often it is so that we need to be told to stop, and to step aside.", doctor Eric Boydens says in this interview.
The role of the doctor in recognizing burnout
His patient said that she herself did not see it coming and hardly believed her doctor when he told her. An active professional who is unaware that even our brain is 'only' and organ which can be overworked. You can reach Eric Boydens, MD, via 03/232 86 77 at his practise at 'general practitioners koraalberg'
Burnout guidance by your doctor or with the help of an online self-help program?
It requires a lot of time, often months, as his patient tells us to recover, and you really need to take this time. This can be done either in discussion with a general practitioner who guides you, or with the help of an online self-help program such as www.15Minutes4Me.com.
Your doctor in burnout
You will definitely need your doctor to give you a general direction in which to go and to confirm the diagnosis. Your doctor will also discuss with you how much time you need to rest and when you can start building up activities again. Some general practitioners follow a special course to become a burnout coach and can help you a bit more than the general doctor in coaching and guiding a patient with burnout. Others send you to an educated coach or psychotherapist, while others again talk to their patients themselves with the help of the self-help program 15Minutes4Me.
The self-help program in burnout
The role of a good self-help program is that it guides you on a daily basis and that you learn to re-discover what gives you energy and where you need to take it easy, one step at a time. You get fifteen minutes of guidance per day to help yourself. The self-help program essentially is your coach, so to speak, while your doctor is more of a supervisor. Most burnout patients experience the daily supporting character of 15Minutes4Me as a strong support system, especially on days where it all is a bit more difficult.
Test if you are at risk for burnout
We developed a free self-test to measure some of the symptoms of burnout in a simple self-test. Take our free self-test now.
Paul Koeck, MD
