While dealing with major losses is never funny, the timing for dealing playfully with layoffs and cutbacks is overripe. As a psychiatrist whose name escapes me observed: "What was once feared and is now mastered is laughed at." Consider this Stress Doc inversion: "What was once feared and is now laughed at is no longer a master!"Enlightened laughter and hard-earned mastery…I can't think of a better combo for helping a d...
Rebuilding the Fire. Creative Burnout. Images of the paradoxical phoenix - the mythological bird soaring to new heights upon being consumed by its own destructive flames. For me, a personal symbol of rebirth and liberation:For the phoenix to rise from the ashesOne must know the painTo transform the fire to burning desire.A Poignant Paradox of Peak PerformanceIn my role as America Online's "Online Psychohumorist,"™ I rece...
Part I of this series, "Good Grief: Is it Mourning or Is It Depression?" examined the fine line and conceptual confusions between grief and mood disorder. The essay also outlined the stages of grief. In the past two years, based on my workshops with reorganized and unemployed professionals in career transition, here are seven bio-psychosocial dynamics and role contexts that may help differentiate natural grief from morb...
Years ago, a magical moment whirled me in a mystical web. The path of “academic flashdancing” consumed me. I succumbed to the "burnout tango." Now let me not just walk the talk, but deromance the dance: "Burnout is the gradual process by which a person, in response to prolonged stress and physical, mental and emotional strain, detaches from work and other meaningful relationships. The result is lowered productivity, c...