When we need help, we count on doctors to put us back
together. But what happens when doctors fall apart?
Funny, fresh, and deeply affecting, We Are All
Perfectly Fine is the story of a married mother of three on the brink of
personal and professional collapse who attends rehab with a twist: a meditation
retreat for burned-out doctors.
Jillian Horton, a general internist, has no idea what
to expect during her five-day retreat at Chapin Mill, a Zen centre in upstate
New York. She just knows she desperately needs a break. At first she is deeply
uncomfortable with the spartan accommodations, silent meals and scheduled
bonding sessions. But as the group struggles through awkward first
encounters and guided meditations, something remarkable happens:
world-class surgeons, psychiatrists, pediatricians and general practitioners
open up and share stories about their secret guilt and grief, as well as their
deep-seated fear of falling short of the expectations that define them. Jillian
realizes that her struggle with burnout is not so much personal as it is the
result of a larger system failure, and that compartmentalizing your most
difficult emotions—a coping
strategy that is drilled into doctors—is not useful unless you face these emotions too.
Jillian Horton throws open a window onto the flawed
system that shapes medical professionals, revealing the rarely acknowledged
stresses that lead doctors to depression and suicide, and emphasizing the
crucial role of compassion not only in treating others, but also in taking care
of ourselves.
