Episode 65: Unplugged: The 6th Vital Sign

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“Flow state is quite honestly the opposite brainwave pattern as grief and burnout. It’s the only time your brain produces all five neurochemicals of happiness,” explains host Dr. Lara Salyer. Modern day life for a physician is full of flow disruptors and does not provide many opportunities for creativity and play. Without the chance to play and be creative, it is very difficult if not impossible to enter a flow state. Today, Dr. Lara explains the sixth vital sign, creativity, and how important it is as a burnout prevention tool. She also shares several flow enhancers and flow disruptors to watch for.

Burnout is becoming more and more common in the healthcare industry. Even medical students have been reporting rising rates of burnout among their peers. There are many contributing factors that can lead to burnout, but the root cause boils down to a lack of opportunities for creativity, imagination, and play. Physicians spend less and less time with their patients and more time on administrative tasks like updating electronic medical records and attending mandatory meetings. They have little to no time for relaxation or recovery, little opportunity for gratitude, and much less autonomy over their workday than physicians had in the past. This type of work environment can lead to the three leading characterizations of burnout: depersonalization, low perceived achievement, and emotional exhaustion.

Most modern healthcare professionals have a major lack of work/life balance. One easy fix is to incorporate relaxation, creativity, and playfulness into your work day. If you are ready to make a shift and activate your creativity, take a moment to complete the assessment on Dr. Lara’s website which will provide you with an actionable restoration plan based on your rock, paper, scissors persona.

About The Catalyst Host, Dr. Lara Salyer:

I worked as a family physician for 15 years until burnout changed the trajectory of my career. I realized I wanted to start a holistic functional medicine practice in my rural hometown and made it happen. In addition to practicing functional medicine, I now mentor practitioners who are looking to change their paths in healthcare by using what I refer to as the “Catalyst Roadmap”. I share each step of this framework with listeners so that they may apply it to their careers, relationships, personal goals, and projects.

In This Episode I'm Talking About:

What is holding back healthcare professionals from finding joy in their careers
How to recover from emotional exhaustion and other burnout symptoms
An easy fix that can solve healthcare’s work/life balance

Quotes:

“If we put our brains under a functional MRI during the grief process, the brainwave pattern is exactly the same as burnout.” (3:05-3:14 | Dr. Lara)

“Flow state is quite honestly the opposite brainwave pattern as grief and burnout. It’s the only time your brain produces all five neurochemicals of happiness.” (7:28-7:40 | Dr. Lara)

“When you are primed for flow, you produce 100% more meaning, 200% more learning and memory capability, and 430% more innovation. Not to mention you’re 500% more productive.” (9:51-10:10 | Dr. Lara)

“Burnout is characterized by three things, depersonalization and cynicism, low perceived achievement, and emotional exhaustion.” (18:28-18:38 | Dr. Lara)