Staying sane in psychiatric residency during COVID times

TL;DR

A psychiatry resident shares her personal journey through burnout during the pandemic and strategies to manage it.

Contribution

Provides a personal narrative on burnout in psychiatric residency during the pandemic and coping strategies.

Findings

Burnout was driven by increased clinical demands and emotional strain during the pandemic.

Supportive relationships and self-care practices helped the resident manage burnout.

Ongoing efforts are needed to prevent burnout in future training.

Abstract

This article gives a junior psychiatry resident's personal story of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: what led to it, what helped her get through it and the continual process of working to avoid burnout in the future.