Intervention and reaction system of the doctors' association of the 14th arrondissement
What was the intervention mechanism in the case that we have presented to you?
When there is burnout, it is not always easy for a doctor to refer the patient to a colleague because he is in denial and refuses any help.
Concerning Delphine, we noticed from the first interview that she was, on the contrary, demanding.
Our diagnosis
Do you think, you doctors, that it may be a relapse following a recovery too early, or that it was a mistake to have offered her a subordinate position compared to what she was doing before? !
I specify that it was his request to return to a less exposed position, with fewer responsibilities. It should also be noted that more and more, after a burnout, employers tell their employees "you can't return to your job, we'll find you something else". And for people like Delphine, to signify an incapacity is to lead them directly to suicide.
In fact, Delphine has a relationship problem vis-à-vis herself and vis-à-vis others: "I'm stupid and I'm afraid that others will realize it".
And she is traumatized by what is happening to her.
You also say, you doctors, that there was an underlying pathology and you wonder about what she did during her 6-month sick leave.
.What we hear for our part is that people affected by a burnout "are vegetables, cry and sleep."
Burnout and/or depression? In any case, the drugs are the same: antidepressants and anxiolitics or neuroleptics.
How does LACT work on this type of issue?
The idea of the intervention is to reframe the patient's problem to carry out 180-degree actions. We work as if they were bubble children who are going to be inoculated with microbes.
People then feel understood and not judged. We create "a small therapeutic optimism". "I hope to be able to but.....".
In the case of Delphine, we said "You will have to immunize yourself against the reactions of those around you."
Learn to immunize yourself against others and diagnose yourself to see how weak you are. "You will, for example, start by going to see someone who does not have a watch and asking them the time. You will then observe how you will react to their attitude. You will then set up experiments." Because Delphine reacts according to beliefs, in the sense of attempts at solutions, alternatives.
She is, remember, in a work situation and she is ashamed of her situation vis-à-vis others. We are going to give him weapons to face his fear with strong images. Vis-à-vis her colleagues, we give her a communication tool: to thank the benevolent attention that she experiences as a threat.
Because the best way to face the opponent is to put him at ease. (Myth of Perseus who killed Medusa with his shield.)
As she feels armed, Delphine will dare.
The effects we have achieved
Delphine regained her self-confidence; she says she is less concerned about what people think of her. "I can finally be natural".
We also follow up these patients like physiotherapists or orthopaedists do.
