Burnout Syndrome

Takeaways from today's episode:

• Research culture requires dialling down on perfectionism which would help to relieve the pressure.
• People respect it when you say NO, so learn to say NO. politely.
• Institutions should support mental health support to researchers
• Be sensitive to different cultural views about mental health
• Intersectionality in mental health means that different people experience the pressures of research in different ways.
• Recognise diversity of individuals in research and use a more individual approach to dealing with mental health.

Resources

Burnout in global health by Madhu Pai: https://www.forbes.com/sites/madhukarpai/2020/07/20/burnout-a-silent-crisis-in-global-health/#56387cab4df8

WHO:

https://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/burn-out/en/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CBurn%2Dout%20is%20a%20syndrome,related%20to%20one's%20job%3B%20and

Spotting signs of burnout: https://www.priorygroup.com/blog/managing-burnout-for-patients-and-gps

Blog by Beth Thompson: https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/02/14/beth-thompson-we-need-to-reimagine-the-way-research-works/

Wellcome research culture survey:https://wellcome.ac.uk/press-release/largest-survey-research-culture-reveals-high-levels-stress-and-insecurity

Reducing stigma of mental health by using the Friendship Bench approach https://www.friendshipbenchzimbabwe.org/

Chris Denning (Uni of Nottingham blog) has posted his blog on his twitter account: @chrisdenning42

Guest information

Dr Beth Thompson leads Wellcome’s UK & EU policy and advocacy work, covering issues including Brexit and research investment, as well as Wellcome’s programme on research culture. Beth was awarded an MBE in 2017 for services to science. She gained her PhD from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in 2008.

@Beth_Thompson

@wellcometrust

Halle Rubera is a Rwandan who grew up in Kenya. She holds a B.A. in Political Science at Wellesley College, and was one of 6 finalists for the Rhodes Scholarship - East Africa. She is passionate about education in Africa, which is reflected in her podcast "Drained"-- a platform for African students to discuss their mental health.

Acknowledgements

Editing by Mariana Vaz, https://www.marianacpvaz.com/

Research: Christine Boinett

Producers: Christine Boinett (Creator and Executive producer), Alice Matimba (Senior Producer), Isabela Malta (Producer) and Emmanuela Oppong (Producer).

Host: Christine Boinett

Media and Marketing: Catherine Holmes

Music: https://freesound.org/s/477388/

Sponsors:

Wellcome Genome Campus Advanced Courses and Scientific Conferences

Wellcome Sanger Institute

Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health