Dialogues on Work and Psychiatry, Episode 2: Ending a Chapter on Work Chapter and Its Impact

What happens when your patient is close to retiring and looking at a new chapter in their work life? What about when you are ready to make a change? How does work define a person and their life?

A person’s sense of self and identity is tied so closely to their work that when a chapter ends, feelings of frustration and even depression may creep in. Changes like retirement may also be reflective of other social, economic, and physiological changes happening in a person—whether due to retirement and aging, changes following the birth of a child, etc—can trigger crises or new opportunities.

David (Daven) E. Morrison III, MD, and Andrew O. Brown, MD, discuss these issues and how clinicians can better support their patients. 

Dr Morrison is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Rosalind Franklin University’s Chicago School of Medicine, and past president of the Academy of Organizational and Occupational Psychiatry. He is also a member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP)–Committee on Work & Organizations; Institute for Fraud Prevention (IFP); Tomkins Institute of Applied Studies of Motivation, Emotion and Cognition. He is a co-author of A.B.C.’s of Behavioral Forensics and Psychiatry of Workplace Dysfunction, and a regular contributor to the B4G™ blog, bringingfreudtofraud.com.

Dr Brown is a department psychiatrist at the Boston Police Department and immediate past president of the Academy of Organizational & Occupational Psychiatry. He is a co-author of Psychiatry of Workplace Dysfunction.