Preparedness and Burnout
Ed Yong on Thursday's Fresh Air, and in particular this passage at about 47m35s:
Earlier this year I spoke to a woman named Nicolette Louissant who works on preparedness. She talked about how people who work on preparadness see tragedy coming well ahead of anyone else, so they're already worried before it happens, then they rush to deal with it when it happens. When things calm down they can see the scars of the period of tragedy. They're always looking at the worst-case scenarious straight in the face for a long period of time without respite.
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/17/947566334/covid-vaccine-rollout-where-research-fell-short
This seems the perfect recipe for burnout, and one numerous technical professionals can relate to. The Cassandra curse, of seeing trouble coming, being right about it, and still not being believe or heeded, is especially harmful.
Yong's earlier conversation with Dr. Louissant is the topic of this Atlantic article: "The Pandemic Experts Are Not Okay" (July 2020).
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/07/pandemic-experts-are-not-okay/613879/
#burnout #preparedness #covid19 #EdYong #NicoletteLouissant #CassandraCurse