Burned Out

I picked up the June/July 2006 issue of Scientific American Mind solely for the article on the Science of Burnout. I was feeling particularly frustrated with work at the time and it was nice to read an article telling me that things I had been feeling were not out of the ordinary.

One of the key parts of the article was a chart detailing the 12 Steps of Burnout. It was disconcerting to see how many of the phases I fell into, but I scoffed at the 12th stage — the physical effects.

Fast forward to the wee hours of the morning on September 13. In a series of events that involved scaring the hell out of my family, an ambulance ride, and some time in the ER I experienced my physical effects stage.

Having never spent any time in a hospital as anything other than a visitor, this was a new experience for me. I’m still wearing a portable heart monitor, but it looks like everything cardiac-wise is perfectly normal. It just seems that I may be under a bit of stress. (heh)