Thank you! I didn't see anything online that really talked about this part of the experience -- the stress of how to navigate it with your employer, so I felt it was warranted and I hope the right people find it and feel seen.
I always appreciate your honesty, Joy. It probably doesn't help, but many, many people are carrying around traumas they're afraid to voice because they fear that once it's out in the open, there's no putting it back in the box. Thanks for sharing.
“Trauma dumping” - I love this phrase. When people talk about their love for their parents, I get very quiet. Sharing their lives with anyone else is too much. And, yes, you can share it here. We are willing to listen and can often relate. Take care.
Thanks for sharing this Joy, I really resonate with what you are saying. Particularly about how overwhelming it is to try to think of any solution beyond putting one foot in front of another, much less trying to qualify for long-term disability. My situation is a little different because my trauma was work related, so that toggling to overwhelm in the workplace happened really quickly. I only work every once in a while now, but even so, my ability to accurately assess the current level still feels really out of whack.
I thought of you (and healthcare providers/emergency folks) while writing this, as it's so complex when work is the trauma. I wrote this piece for CHEST (American College of Chest Physicians) a while back, on burnout and the ICU. It is good to see people are talking about the problem, but we have a long way to go.
My favorite part of your article is the coaching/mentorship around passion projects and the idea of dividing tasks by aptitude/interest. The people who are great at procedures are probably different than the ones who are best at consulting with other specialists.
That said, burnout is just kind of standard operating conditions in medicine (about 70% of ER docs were burned out in research done before the pandemic) and no one seems to care that if you have an emergency that your odds are 2 out of 3 that your doctor finds their work meaningless. And I think that particularly after the pandemic, the trauma goes so far beyond burnout. I was recently diagnosed with C-PTSD, which was interesting because I didn’t think I met criteria, but my therapist was telling me about emotional flashbacks instead of visual ones, and that rang true. I think part of the reason it was hard to see myself in it is because there are incredibly few first person accounts of healthcare acquired PTSD (at least in the brief research I’ve done). If you’re interested, I wrote a bit about my initial wranglings with understanding the diagnosis: https://thenettlewitchmd.substack.com/p/ptsd-in-healthcare-from-an-organizational I’m not sure if it adds too much to the discussion beyond my already long comment, but I know you write about healthcare, and are embroiled in it as a caretaker, so it may feel more relevant.
Thank you for sharing -- I will read now. It's upsetting to hear there isn't more research on PTSD among healthcare workers, because it seems like a common thing. I can't imagine seeing people suffering day in and day out and *not* getting traumatized.
You spoke for a lot of people here. The hypervigilance alone is exhausting, and then there’s everything else. I’m so sorry.
Thank you! I didn't see anything online that really talked about this part of the experience -- the stress of how to navigate it with your employer, so I felt it was warranted and I hope the right people find it and feel seen.
I always appreciate your honesty, Joy. It probably doesn't help, but many, many people are carrying around traumas they're afraid to voice because they fear that once it's out in the open, there's no putting it back in the box. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! I'm letting all mine fly out of the box! (Vulnerability hangover be damned!)
“Trauma dumping” - I love this phrase. When people talk about their love for their parents, I get very quiet. Sharing their lives with anyone else is too much. And, yes, you can share it here. We are willing to listen and can often relate. Take care.
Thanks for sharing this Joy, I really resonate with what you are saying. Particularly about how overwhelming it is to try to think of any solution beyond putting one foot in front of another, much less trying to qualify for long-term disability. My situation is a little different because my trauma was work related, so that toggling to overwhelm in the workplace happened really quickly. I only work every once in a while now, but even so, my ability to accurately assess the current level still feels really out of whack.
I thought of you (and healthcare providers/emergency folks) while writing this, as it's so complex when work is the trauma. I wrote this piece for CHEST (American College of Chest Physicians) a while back, on burnout and the ICU. It is good to see people are talking about the problem, but we have a long way to go.
https://www.chestnet.org/guidelines-and-topic-collections/publications/chest-advocates/critical-care-staff-in-critical-condition
My favorite part of your article is the coaching/mentorship around passion projects and the idea of dividing tasks by aptitude/interest. The people who are great at procedures are probably different than the ones who are best at consulting with other specialists.
That said, burnout is just kind of standard operating conditions in medicine (about 70% of ER docs were burned out in research done before the pandemic) and no one seems to care that if you have an emergency that your odds are 2 out of 3 that your doctor finds their work meaningless. And I think that particularly after the pandemic, the trauma goes so far beyond burnout. I was recently diagnosed with C-PTSD, which was interesting because I didn’t think I met criteria, but my therapist was telling me about emotional flashbacks instead of visual ones, and that rang true. I think part of the reason it was hard to see myself in it is because there are incredibly few first person accounts of healthcare acquired PTSD (at least in the brief research I’ve done). If you’re interested, I wrote a bit about my initial wranglings with understanding the diagnosis: https://thenettlewitchmd.substack.com/p/ptsd-in-healthcare-from-an-organizational I’m not sure if it adds too much to the discussion beyond my already long comment, but I know you write about healthcare, and are embroiled in it as a caretaker, so it may feel more relevant.
Thank you for sharing -- I will read now. It's upsetting to hear there isn't more research on PTSD among healthcare workers, because it seems like a common thing. I can't imagine seeing people suffering day in and day out and *not* getting traumatized.
Heavy, but important. Thank you for sharing this, Joy.