Stress and burnout are well known to occur in those working in mental health, like in any other job or work. The stress and strain of any job is a natural phenomenon and takes a toll on some. It is like a wear and tear due to use, overuse, underuse or misuse of one’s resources towards an activity.

In mental health practice, the work tends to balance out. There are interesting cases which arouse curiosity and interest, there are challenging ones, which test out one’s skills and wits, and there are frustrating ones, which refuse to recover despite all efforts. The last are emotionally draining and exhausting. It causes a breakdown of the spirit, zeal and enthusiasm, all of which are essential for a satisfying work life. Those professionals in academics and research have their own joys and sorrows to cope with.

There are many definitions and descriptions of what is burnout, which intend to mean the same—a state of fatigue or frustration brought about by work or job, devotion to a cause, way of life, or relationship that failed to produce the expected reward. Many professionals have described different stages of burnout—two, three and four, or many, all indicating a gradual process of progressive stress bearing, which is distressing. The stages start with enthusiasm and joy, which gets lost somewhere on the way, to cause a lack of pleasure and later more sorrow than anything else. Ironically, though the phenomenon is called burnout, this results from cold shoulder by colleagues, coldness in the atmosphere and indifferent cold attitudes of the managers and colleagues. This freezes the enthusiasm and charm of the work and the employee showing burnout develops cold feet!

The causes or contributory factors for such job stress is also quite well understood, as these are partly personal, partly occupational and partly systemic or administrative. There might be spiritual factors as well, but these are not talked about. The workplace factors also relate to colleagues, facilities, resources, and work culture.

The question is how can one remain unburnt out. Or how can one unburn oneself. This is not only about prevention of burnout, rather revival of the burnt out spirit. Different persons use different strategies, whatever works for them. Having a work-life balance and a variety in work, enough breaks and rest, sharing of burden with colleagues and peer, and enough support from the system and administration are some methods. A combination of all of these might work even better. By and large the stress and job dissatisfaction are due to a mismatch between hopes, expectations and actual achievements and gains. These pertain to expectations from self or others—in workplace, family or colleagues.

A person who has enjoyable hobbies and leisure activities can remain unburnt and avoid or postpone burnout. Having a sense of humour, wit, and wisdom, and viewing stress with amusement can retain, regain or sustain, the joy of the job or work life. Such a Psychohumour can be a great asset. I am using this rather strange and unheard-of term, Psychohumour, but it is not a neologism; I searched the internet and found it has been used to refer to online psychohumourists and psychohumour at certain places. Humour can sustain the well-being to balance the stress of work. In psychodynamics it is considered a healthy and a mature defense mechanism. Use of humour for emotional, cognitive, psychological and spiritual well-being is psychohumour. Sense of humour is a personality trait. It is also on a gradient, and some persons are funny, very funny, hilarious, comics, comedians, or jokers. Many persons with a good sense of humour are at times not taken seriously, as people believe that meaningful things can be thought of only seriously! Workplace should encourage people who are psychohumourists and lighten the stress of demanding work. On one hand the spirit is dent due to job stress, on the other hand one can uplift the spirit by several ways, like the search for the meaning of this suffering at workplace to turn the burnout to a creative burnout—one which can lead to a better, more satisfying job or a more meaningful one. The cover page of Scientific American in 2015 displayed a slogan—Burnout—don’t just beat it. Thrive. The true culprit is the mismatch between the person and the job—like a marital discord, it is an occupational discord. Similar burnout may be observed in students who have a mismatch between their educational interests and what they feel forced to study. The situation should be—Fit mind, fit job. As Thomas Szasz, author, professor of psychiatry so wisely said ‘the greatest analgesic, soporific, stimulant, tranquilizer, narcotic, and to some extent even antibiotic—in short, the closest thing to a genuine panacea—known to medical science is…..work.’ Work turns out to be a necessary evil. Can’t do with it and can’t do without it; but can do it without being stressed or burnt out.

To use the burnout phenomenon in a more positive way, organizations and work places should use unburn methods to enthuse a burning desire to serve, work, have dedication and motivation and work with fun. If possible, there should be love, fun, and spirituality in the air. (Chaturvedi 2022a). In a job, one could move at their own pace and comfort, which would also be the most productive and satisfying one. On a spiritual note, one should introspect to learn is this what they wanted to do, is it giving them a meaning of life, serving any worthwhile purpose and a spiritual satisfaction (Chaturvedi 2022b).

Academic pursuits are considered as a method of un burning and preventing or delaying burnout. This issue of the journal contributes to that end with a spectrum of papers from across the world. There is an interesting paper on Exploring the Recovery Phenomenon from Adolescents’ Perspective: A Qualitative Study from Canada, and another one on Illness Management and Recovery in Patients Acutely Admitted to a Psychiatric Ward from Japan. There are two important papers from Iran, one on Exploration of the Barriers to Clozapine Prescribing in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia: A Qualitative Study and another a Case Study on Outpatient Based Supported Employment for a Person with Schizophrenia from Iran. Another article on schizophrenia on Marriage Experience Among Patients with Schizophrenia: A Qualitative Narrative Study is from Nablus, Palestine. Women with disabilities and femicide: A Call for Research from USA draws attention to this important issue.

A few papers from the country are on Getting Back to Work: Cognitive-Communicative Predictors for Work Re-entry Following Traumatic Brain Injury and Social Security Measures for Persons with Mental Illness: Access and Utilisation in Rural India, Reintegration Services for Homeless Female Living with Severe Mental Illness and History of Sexual Abuse and an Examination of Israel’s Model of a Basket of Services for Persons with Psychiatric Disabilities: Its Relevance to India. Time for Action: A Case for Mental Health Advocacy in India from Kerala is indeed timely. It is refreshing to find an article on the Contribution of Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy to the Rehabilitation Setting for a Patient with Acquired Brain Injury, from Paris, France.

Lastly, this issue has a Guest Editorial on Functional Recovery in Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder by Jaisoorya and YC Janardhan Reddy, talking about recovery issues in OCD, a topic not discussed often. Another important issue of dealing with multimorbidity in adults with neurodevelopmental disorders, has been aptly discussed in another editorial by Krishna Prasad, Sujai and Jagadisha Thirthalli.