October 2020: Burnout and Depression Among Psychiatrists

10/01/20 • 33 min

Executive Editor Michael Roy speaks with Constance Guille, M.D., and Richard F. Summers, M.D., about their article on the prevalence of burnout and depressive symptoms among North American psychiatrists, demographic and practice characteristics associated with risk for these symptoms, and the correlation between burnout and depression. A related commentary on burnout by Dr. Summers also is discussed.

Dr. Guille is a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is a member of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Board of Trustees Workgroup on Psychiatrist Well-Being and Burnout, and she is co-investigator on the Intern Health Study, a large prospective study examining stress and depression among medical trainees. She directs the Women’s Reproductive Behavioral Health Division at the Medical University of South Carolina and has published widely on topics including women’s health, stress, and depression.

Dr. Summers is clinical professor of psychiatry and senior residency advisor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He currently is APA treasurer, and he served as chair of the APA Board of Trustees Workgroup on Psychiatrist Well-Being and Burnout. He has published widely on topics including psychodynamic therapy training, the therapeutic alliance, psychodynamic formulation, positive psychology, and psychiatry residency training. He is a distinguished life fellow of APA.

Formation of the APA Board of Trustees Workgroup on Psychiatrist Well-Being and Burnout [3:03]
The distinction between burnout and depression, and whether there is a general agreement in the field on how these two constructs are related [4:44]
What previous research has shown regarding the prevalence of burnout among physicians in other specialties [6:37]
How the present study collected data, and what measures were used to quantify burnout and depression [9:04]
Demographic characteristics of the study population [11:58]
Demographic and work characteristics associated with burnout [13:01]
Demographic and work characteristics associated with depression [13:28]
Did any results surprise the authors? [13:43]
Study limitations [17:57]
Placing the present work in context with previous work [19:49]
Implications of the study for health care organizations and for workforce policy in general [21:58]
Discussion of Dr. Summers’ commentary on what burnout is and what it is not [25:53]
Recommendations for further work in this area [29:19]

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Listen to other podcasts produced by the American Psychiatric Association.

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Watch Deputy Editor Daniel S. Pine, M.D., present highlights from the October 2020 issue.

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E-mail us at [email protected]

Formation of the APA Board of Trustees Workgroup on Psychiatrist Well-Being and Burnout [3:03]
The distinction between burnout and depression, and whether there is a general agreement in the field on how these two constructs are related [4:44]
What previous research has shown regarding the prevalence of burnout among physicians in other specialties [6:37]
How the present study collected data, and what measures were used to quantify burnout and depression [9:04]
Demographic characteristics of the study population [11:58]
Demographic and work characteristics associated with burnout [13:01]
Demographic and work characteristics associated with depression [13:28]
Did any results surprise the authors? [13:43]
Study limitations [17:57]
Placing the present work in context with previous work [19:49]
Implications of the study for health care organizations and for workforce policy in general [21:58]
Discussion of Dr. Summers’ commentary on what burnout is and what it is not [25:53]
Recommendations for further work in this area [29:19]

Be sure to let your colleagues know about the podcast, and please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you listen to it.

Subscribe to the podcast here.

Listen to other podcasts produced by the American Psychiatric Association.

Browse articles online.

Watch Deputy Editor Daniel S. Pine, M.D., present highlights from the October 2020 issue.

Follow the journals of APA Publishing on Twitter.

E-mail us at [email protected]

Previous Episode

September 2020: Callous-Unemotional Traits and Gun Violence

Executive Editor Michael Roy speaks with Emily Robertson, M.A., and Paul Frick, Ph.D., about their article on the role that callous-unemotional traits have in the risk for gun carrying and gun use during a crime.

Ms. Emily Robertson is a clinical psychology doctoral student in the Developmental Psychopathology Lab at Louisiana State University. This fall, she begins a predoctoral internship at the Mailman Center for Child Development in the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. Dr. Paul Frick leads the Developmental Psychopathology Lab at LSU, where he is the Roy Crumpler Memorial Chair in the Department of Psychology. He holds a joint appointment in the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education at Australian Catholic University in Brisbane.

Why gun violence in the United States has become a significant concern among young people [2:46]
What are callous-unemotional traits, and how common are these traits in the general population? [4:10]
Why the authors decided to examine the relationship between callous-unemotional traits and gun violence [5:46]
How the authors identified the study population, and what covariates or other variables they included [6:35]
How the authors determined whether callous-unemotional traits affected a number of variables related to gun violence [10:11]
Discussion of the main hypothesis [11:16]
How callous-unemotional traits interact with a number of covariates, and other risk factors, to influence the frequency of gun carrying after a first arrest and the status of peer gun carrying and ownership [13:31]
Overall conclusions [15:18]
Study limitations [16:58]
Implications of the work on public policy or on health policy [18:45]
Main takeaways for researchers, clinicians, and other mental health professionals [20:18]
Recommendations for further research [21:48]

Be sure to let your colleagues know about the podcast, and please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you listen to it.

Subscribe to the podcast here.

Listen to other podcasts produced by the American Psychiatric Association.

Browse articles online.

Watch Deputy Editor Daniel S. Pine, M.D., present highlights from the September 2020 issue.

Follow the journals of APA Publishing on Twitter.

E-mail us at [email protected]

Next Episode

November 2020: Brain Responses During Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder

Executive Editor Michael Roy speaks with Sara K. Blaine, Ph.D., and Rajita Sinha, Ph.D., about their article on the use of brain imaging in the evaluation of drinking outcomes during early outpatient treatment for alcohol use disorder.

Dr. Sara Blaine is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Auburn University. She recently completed postdoctoral work at Yale University. Her work has looked at how genes and aspects of the brain affect the development of alcoholism under conditions of stress.

Dr. Rajita Sinha is the Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, where she also is a professor of neurobiology. She is chief of the psychology section in psychiatry and co-director of education at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. In addition, she is a professor in the Child Study Center and founding director of the Yale Stress Center. Her research has looked at the mechanisms of chronic stress, adversity, and coping. She is also interested in developing new ways to counter the effects of stress and addictive behaviors.

How the authors became interested in this area of research [2:48]
Why the authors studied the neurobiology of individuals who are in the early phase of abstinence from alcohol [4:37]
Areas of the brain that are linked to stress and reward circuits that are affected by addiction [6:20]
Details about the study design and patient population [8:21]
The different measurements used in the study, and how the authors analyzed the data [11:38]
Results of the two-part analysis, which observed patients’ responses to alcohol, stress, or neutral cues and which evaluated treatment outcomes among patients [17:04]
Did any results surprise the authors? [20:56]
Study limitations [23:18]
How this research adds to the overall body of knowledge about treatment for alcohol use disorder [24:12]
Implications the work has for programs that provide treatment for alcohol use disorder [26:12]
Main takeaways for researchers, clinicians, and other mental health professionals [27:58]
Recommendations for further research [29:42]

Be sure to let your colleagues know about the podcast, and please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you listen to it.

Subscribe to the podcast here.

Listen to other podcasts produced by the American Psychiatric Association.

Browse articles online.

Watch Deputy Editor Daniel S. Pine, M.D., present highlights from the November 2020 issue.

Follow the journals of APA Publishing on Twitter.

E-mail us at [email protected]