I thought that burnout was just a fancy word for ‘I feel a bit stressed and I need the doctor to sign me off work’ and I didn’t really understand the severity of what was happening to me. – Amsterdam Mamas’ Director Emmy McCarthy

Have you or someone you know experienced a burnout? Or maybe you’ve wondered what exactly people mean when they talk about burnouts?

In this episode, we shine the light on burnouts and find out what we’re talking about when we talk about burnout in the Netherlands, as well as why we don’t talk about it more often. We explore the topic of burnouts from three different perspectives to help define burnouts and understand how burnouts affect members of our community.

First, we interview Dana Acherman, a huisarts and member of the AM community, to understand burnouts from a medical perspective. Next, our very own AM director Emmy McCarthy opens up about her own experience going through a burnout – she provides some advice for others experiencing a burnout and tells us what steps she took towards recovery. Lastly, we introduce our new co-host Nerissa Muijs. Nerissa discusses how her perspective changed after experiencing a burnout herself, as well as some thoughts about reintegration and resentment in the workplace.

Show Notes:

Information about burnouts on thuisarts.nl

Mentaal Vitaal 

Zelfhulp Wijzer 

Burnout information from Foundation Mirro

Call for submissions: We’re looking for fun stories about a language mishap, mispronunciation, or awkward ‘lost in translation’ situations to feature on a future episode. We’d love to feature yours! Record a quick message for us with the Amsterdam Mamas Podcast Recording Tool!

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Katherine Perretta