Why the Holidays Didn’t Fix Physician Burnout (When Rest Isn’t Rest)

For many physicians, the holidays aren’t a break — they’re a different kind of surge.

Emergency departments fill with winter injuries and “backyard football” mishaps. Clinics see families trying to use benefits before deductibles reset. Teachers and parents schedule long-delayed appointments while school is out. Staffing thins, demand shifts, and the system keeps moving.

So if you worked straight through the holidays, your exhaustion makes sense.

But even if you managed to take time off, many physicians notice the same thing in January:
their body never really powered down.

Why Time Off Doesn’t Always Reduce Physician Burnout

Vacation is often treated as the antidote to burnout. For physicians, it’s rarely that simple.

A national study of more than 3,000 U.S. physicians found that:

Most physicians take three weeks of vacation or less per year
Nearly 70% report working during vacation
Working during vacation is associated with higher burnout
Uninterrupted time off and reliable coverage are associated with lower burnout (Sinsky et al., 2024)

In other words, even when physicians are technically “off,” they are often still cognitively and physiologically engaged.

During the holidays, this boundary erosion tends to worsen — not improve.

Why Physicians Don’t Truly Unplug During the Holidays

This isn’t a failure of self-care.

Two realities collide:

Clinical demand doesn’t stop — it redistributes
Professional responsibility persists — concern for patients, colleagues, and continuity keeps many physicians mentally “on call”

The nervous system never receives a clear signal that the threat window has closed.

Why Your Body Still Feels on Alert in January

When recovery is partial or interrupted, the nervous system stays in high-readiness mode:

Sleep increases, but restoration doesn’t
Muscles remain tense
Irritability and emotional flattening linger
Decision fatigue carries into the new year

This is why January can feel confusing.
You should feel better — but you don’t.

That doesn’t mean rest failed.
It means your nervous system never truly stood down.

What Actually Helps the Nervous System Reset

True recovery requires more than time away. It requires the nervous system to relearn safety.

This is where focused, brain-based approaches like EMDR Intensives differ from traditional weekly therapy or extended time off. Rather than relying on insight alone, they work directly with the physiological stress patterns that keep the body on alert.

👉 Learn more about EMDR Intensives for medical professionals
https://clearblueskytherapyconsulting.com/page/med-provider-home

👉 Book a confidential strategy session
https://clearblueskytherapyconsulting.com/page/eim-book-a-strategy-session

References

Sinsky CA, Trockel MT, Dyrbye LN, et al.
Vacation days taken, work during vacation, and burnout among U.S. physicians.
JAMA Network Open. 2024;7(1):e2351635.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38214928/

American Medical Association.
Too many physicians don’t get to unplug, unwind on vacation.
https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/too-many-physicians-don-t-get-unplug-unwind-vacation

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Meet Katherine Driskell

About Katherine

Helping people find their clear blue sky possibilities after their storm

Katherine Driskell, MSW, LICSW has been in the non-profit and mental health space for more than 20 years. With experience in therapy with clients from 8 to 80+, in a variety of settings, she is able to start with clients where they are, and help them reach their goals.

She is a certified EMDR Therapist and Consultant-In-Training through EMDRIA and a Certified HeartMath Interventions Practitioner. She is a member of the Minnesota Society for Clinical Social Work.

She focuses on motivated clients with clear goals. She helps them meet their goals through short-term intensive work focused directly on the origins of the blocks and beliefs that hold them back. She works with high-achieving professionals and performers as well as individuals who have experienced traumas big and small. Located in the heart of the Destination Medical Center district in Rochester, Minnesota, she loves working with patients and their loved ones, doctors and providers to overcome the medical trauma that is sometimes part of healing and illness. She combines mental health and counseling knowledge and skills with cutting edge, research-supported approaches to remove barriers to achieving potential.

She has worked for the State of Minnesota providing mental health care to clients with chronic mental and behavioral challenges. She was in a leadership position at the Mayo Clinic for five years before joining a local non-profit organization to guide a program providing mental health therapists to provide care in schools.

Katherine is available for Consultation for EMDR Therapists who have completed EMDRIA-Approved Basic Training and want to pursue certification. Click here to join the next cohort.

Katherine has also provided license supervision to social workers and professional clinical counselors for nearly a decade. She sought supervision outside of her place of employment as well, knowing the value of an outside perspective and the protected space to grow that comes from a dedicated supervisory relationship. Clinicians must continually reflect on their own well-being and responses to the work they do with clients. In a safe, nurturing supervisory relationship, clinicians can become the healers they seek to be. Each year she takes on a small cohort of Clinical Social Workers and candidates for licensure as Professional Clinical Counselors for license supervision. Reach out to get on the waiting list for the next cohort here

trauma and recovery

When Rest Isn't Rest after the holidays