#Burnout <> (short) Feasibility

At the beginning of my adventure with FindMeCure and Trialhub (by FindMeCure) almost 4 years ago, there was a lot of "Work smart, not hard" and similar around.. and honestly, I was pickled what that was about.

Coming from a company where 24/7 was quite often the norm and everything had to be done like yesterday I was more than literally a hard worker. In such a workflow, it is naturally easy to lose oneself in the galloping. I am sure some of you would agree that in such an environment, having the time AND energy to actually stop and think "there must be another way of doing things" feels like a luxury that in the few cases gifted brings only small to mid ideas with limited outcomes. Because the priority is "things to be done". And once all is done the only strength left is utilized to try to detox before the next sprint. And often there is no time between sprints.

Burnout is not something that happens overnight. It is like getting involved in a toxic relationship - we don't want it and we think we can avoid it because we assume we can see/feel clearly the signs. And if we are among the smart ones that have been good at avoiding it, we definitely have this one friend that is involved in this really destructive partnership with this baaaad person and it seems everyone around knows it except our friend, right? Well, I was that friend. And I know what it is like to be in the middle of the storm and not to be able to see it, despite the loud thunderstorms and bright lightnings, and strong crashing everything winds..

Of course, as you may guess, in three years of step-by-step involvement (by the book), I was heavily engaged with Burnout and it did not move in with me alone. Nope, it came along with all the in-laws and the pets: chronic stress and depression, tiredness, frustrations, isolation, significant weight loss, and the mojo killer - the self-doubt. Some of these guys are so sticky that are still living with me. Well yes, much more civilized, but hey, no one likes meltdowns triggered by some accidental trigger command supposed to be long ago forgotten.

Actually, no one wakes up one day with the brilliant idea to start dating an egocentric, manipulative sociopath with manic inclinations, but it happens. The last is charming and compelling and when one is not self-aware they can easily fall in love and the rest is not a mystery.

When I turn back the tape of my memories, I was going after my goals with the wrong motivation and the wrong equipment: "Prove them, you are better", "You never give up". "You never fail", "You can make it, push harder", "First finish this, and then you'll rest". But the time for rest was like "tomorrow", there was always a new "today" to finish first before it comes and it never came. I was motivating myself that if I was working even harder, all was going to get easier. It was the same as "if I change this and that in myself he/she/they/them would love me more". I was drowning in my own false perception of myself until a good friend stepped in and cold-blooded slapped me through the face with the truth not once, but as many times as I needed to finally open my eyes and take a good look at what was left of me - 48 kg and quite distinguished cheek bones, which for some sick reason I actually liked.

Well. that was in short my relationship with Burnout. I can not say it is certainly in the past as I feel it breathing somewhere close and I know it's just waiting for a moment of weakness and distraction to move back in. This is the thing with toxic relationships. It is not that hard to get rid of the partner, it is much, much, much harder to get rid of the mentality and the patterns of thinking and perceiving oneself and the surroundings. I've heard people close to me (including my mom) telling me that the job was doing that to me, but I don't think they were right. (Sorry, mom, love you!!) I did this to myself. I could put healthy boundaries and I could be more careful with myself and the choices I make. The most bizarre thing is that thinking of it now I wouldn't change a thing if I could turn back time. Perhaps I am too much like the people who in terms of truly understanding something need to survive it. And I did, and I am what I am today thanks to that, and I respect it.

These few paragraphs initially began as a post on LinkedIn but for the first time since I use the platform, I actually discovered there is a limit on the length of the post.. Which was a blessing as now I intend to have a series of articles to review deeper my ex Burnout and his all relatives + the pets.

Why? I am sure most of you'd understand why. Almost all of my network is in the Clinical Research industry and from all the conversations with a lot of you, I know the above workflow of mine sounds familiar.

The exact catalyst was meeting my version from 7 years ago in the body of Lara, the sweetest young feasibility manager in a very cool European CRO, who recently found herself overwhelmed with 3 RFPs and 2 BDs at the same time just a few days before her planned vacation. We had a good laugh about how it always happens like that and sometimes it goes out of control. In my opinion, she was just starting dating Burnout and I saw a good opening for an afar attempt to save her, by telling her my story. In the end, she asked me if I know now what it means "Work smart, not hard". Yes, I said, as of my current point of evolution it means: Spend more time on proper planning; Use smarter than you tools; Ask for help on time. Stay tuned for the next phase :)

The conversation moved me and made me think. I had to know.. the answer to the only question I had in my head at that time.. What about the clinical research on burnout??

Workplace Burnout Survey was initiated by Deloitte among 1,000 full-time US professionals to explore the drivers and impact of employee burnout. The findings indicate that 77% of respondents say they have experienced employee burnout at their current job, with more than half citing more than one occurrence. The survey also uncovered that employers may be missing the mark when it comes to developing well-being programs that their employees find valuable to address stress in the workplace.

To Calculate The Cost of Burnout in Healthcare from June to September 2020, Mental Health America surveyed more than 1,000 healthcare professionals about their mental and emotional state, and a staggering 76% reported feelings of exhaustion and burnout. Historically, burnout rates have been in the 50% range for physicians and the 33% range for nurses. Keep that in mind when reaching out to your Investigators.

In terms of clinical trials, in N. America and Europe (39 countries), there are 292 clinical trials in total with "Burnout, Psychological" (+ 13 synonyms): 64 treatment, 50 observational, 33 prevention, and 145 other trials, and 271 Sites and 302 Investigators with experience with clinical trials in burnout were identified in the 39 countries I looked into. The USA, Turkey, and Sweden are the top 3 countries with the highest number of completed clinical trials; the USA, France, and Canada with the highest number of ongoing clinical trials as of now, and Poland is the country with the highest ARR.

It was not surprising to also see that the recruitment duration was way ahead of the initial planning:

And of course, I couldn't help but quickly check the Sponsors dedicated to helping people like me and this is how I found out about cool companies like "Firstbeat Technologies Oy", "Resolution Blue Labs Inc", "Clinical Tools, Inc." and others with ongoing trials with the related Sites and Investigators on burnout.

In the next article I am going to dissect phase I Burnout, so stay tuned :)

Until then I am leaving you with this super fun saying I've heard from a friend who is among the most "zen" people I know: "If something is important to be done, someone will do it, if no one did it, it wasn't that important!" Well, he is currently unemployed, so probably it would be a good idea for now to avoid any career advice coming from him :))

Cheers!

Note: The sources of the Article's headline image and body images are in the respective links.