Experiencing my own burnout firsthand changed everything.
I was working 16-hour shifts in an acute psychiatric hospital while studying full-time and completing my Masters thesis.
Every day felt like an uphill battle—running on 4 hours of sleep, neglecting my family and friends, and telling myself I just had to make it through one more shift, one more exam, one more day, i’ll get to my goal of being a psychologist. My body was running on adrenaline, my mind was in constant brain fog, and even though I had dedicated my life to understanding mental health, I was completely losing my own.
Everywhere I turned, the so-called cure for burnout was self-care—just take a break, set boundaries, and you’ll be fine. If it were that simple, there wouldn’t be a burnout problem in the first place.
To be honest, I was disgusted with this advice.
I soon came to realize that effective treatment for burnout syndrome simply did not exist. That is when I took matters into my own hands.
I thought, “If tangible, practical, and scientifically backed advice for burnout doesn’t exist, I am going to take matters into my own hands – and I am going to use the very best of science in doing so, so that no one is mislead or misinformed.”
Game On.
I started my doctoral studies and matched with Yale School of Medicine researcher and graduate, Dr. Carolyn Ortega, in tackling this problem. I needed the very best of scientists on my side – so that I myself was not mislead or misguided on my path to the truth.
I spent the next seven years searching for answers. Thousands of hours of interviews. Endless data collection. Every research article I could find. I dug into the very best of scientific research—determined to uncover the truth. All so no one else would have to endure what I did—or lose years of their life to this syndrome.