An excerpt from The Resilient Life: Manage Stress, Prevent Burnout, & Strengthen Your Mental and Physical Health.

According to a recent study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, “a dramatic increase in burnout and decrease in satisfaction with work-life integration occurred in U.S. physicians between 2020 and 2021.” This isn’t a surprise to anyone.

The work environment is what drives physician burnout. Excessive workloads, untenable administrative burdens, moral injury, and other work-related factors have created this “shadow pandemic.” If you’re experiencing burnout, it’s not your fault.

That said, there are personality factors that can make you more vulnerable. I’ve worked with a number of physicians in my coaching practice. I’ve seen those doctors experience less distress, and feel more in control, by understanding their vulnerabilities and changing how they think and behave with respect to their work.

Here are some of the personality traits that make people vulnerable to burnout:

1. High neuroticism. I wish they’d chosen a different word for this trait, but there it is. People who score high in neuroticism tend to be anxious, insecure, and nervous. We find things to worry about, where others wouldn’t even think to look (I say “we” because I belong to this group). We’re more likely to focus on the negative and minimize the positive.

You can shift this tendency. You can retrain the ingrained habit of focusing on the negative. This helps with anxiety and depression, as well.

This isn’t always a “born this way” thing. Our limbic systems can become overdeveloped or hardwired for negative reactions and tensions. Traumatic experiences, which many physicians experience, can do this to our brains and our personalities. This first happened to me in my ER residency. It made me noticeably more neurotic and anxious. If this is your history, I recommend seeking trauma-informed counseling support.

2. Introversion. Introverts aren’t always easy to spot. They enjoy interactions with others (especially if the conversation is interesting or meaningful), but get drained by those interactions. If you’re an introvert, you do best with a rhythm or schedule that lets you quietly recharge after a period of social contact.

I once worked with a client who wanted help with “overwhelming stress.” I quickly identified her as an introvert after she told me that one of her biggest work-related stressors was the unrelenting social pressure. Her gregarious, extraverted coworkers constantly stopped to chat, invaded her coffee breaks, and insisted she join them at lunch. She had no time to recharge from her intensely social job as a manager.

I helped her take back and protect her downtime. She started slipping outside to enjoy her coffee breaks alone. She told her colleagues that she could only join them for lunch on Thursdays. Finally, she turned her train commute into an introvert-friendly, restorative oasis. Instead of answering emails, she put her work phone in airplane mode and listened to relaxing, restorative spa sounds through her earbuds.

3. Extreme conscientiousness. Doctors tend to be extremely conscientious. Conscientious types have a strong work ethic, are reliable and driven, and take pride in good work. In moderate amounts, conscientiousness can make you more resilient and less prone to the reduced sense of accomplishment and efficacy that characterize burnout.

There’s a dark side to being too conscientious, though. I see it all the time in my clients. Extreme conscientiousness can morph into crippling, whip-wielding perfectionism or impossibly high, stress-inducing standards.

When I speak to groups of leaders, I often discuss the phenomenon of the “extra-miler.” Many doctors would identify with this.

In a Harvard Business Review article on “collaborative overload,” the authors describe that extra-miler, an employee who routinely contributes above and beyond the scope of his or her role. In excess, “what starts as a virtuous cycle soon turns vicious … they are so overtaxed that they’re no longer personally effective.”

Not only that, but extra-milers will often have the lowest engagement and career satisfaction scores. As a result, these amazing, others-oriented, high-energy people become so depleted that they either burn out and become apathetic or end up leaving altogether.

By all means, work hard and contribute your best, but be wise about how and when. Be aware of this tendency in yourself, and hold it in reserve for when it’s most needed. Only use it if you have the available energy. Hold back if you’re feeling tired, and take care not to wear yourself out.

4. Low or extreme agreeableness. If you’re a warm person who seeks to get along with others, you probably score high on agreeableness. Less-agreeable people are more conflict-prone, less adaptable to change, less compliant, and more likely to have a pessimistic view of their job or their workplace (read: more vulnerable to burnout).

My clients typically experience the problems that come from being too agreeable. They struggle to say no to inappropriate requests for their time or attention. And doctors are usually the worst. They’re classic extra-milers, spread way too thin. They feel guilty about putting healthy, reasonable limits on how much they are willing to help or support others.

If you can relate to what I’ve written here, or continually feel frustrated and stressed by the demands of your work, I recommend that you get some kind of support. Work with a counselor, a mentor or a coach. Let them help you to see your blind spots. They can help you to come up with strategies, so that there’s more of “you” left over at the end of your day.

Again, the fundamental drivers of burnout are work-related and aren’t your fault. The system needs to change. If you have the opportunity to provide input on how the system needs to change, take it. At the same time, learn to manage your own vulnerabilities. Learn to not feel guilty about doing what you have to do to protect your well-being in a relentlessly stressful environment. Your well-being is in everyone’s best interest.

Susan Biali Haas is a physician and author of The Resilient Life: Manage Stress, Prevent Burnout, & Strengthen Your Mental and Physical Health.