Out of Chaos-Meaning Arises: The Lived Experience of Re-Habituating the Habitual Body When Suffering From Burnout.

Karin Mohn Engebretsen,Wenche Schrøder Bjorbækmo

doi:10.1177/1049732320914584

Karin Mohn Engebretsen, Wenche Schrøder Bjorbækmo

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732320914584

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Abstract

Sufferers from burnout might experience a sincere bonding to their lost lifeworld, which can result in their holding on to their previous worlds while simultaneously trying to unleash themselves. In this article, four experiential dimensions are presented in discussion with the phenomenological insights provided by Merleau-Ponty. These dimensions are “Trapped in the present body,” “the balancing act,” “precious moments of joy,” and “this is my Lifeworld now.” In the rehabilitation process, the participants demonstrated deliberate choices and reflective self-cultivation to adjust to their present situation. The illness seemed to promote a search for meaning—and out of the existential chaos, a “new” habitual body might appear. The study provides invaluable information about the rehabilitation process and the need for humanistic interventions.

Highlights

I feel helpless because I’m not in control of my life
Merleau-Ponty (1945/2003) sees the habitual body as it has been lived in the past—in virtue of the habitual ways in which it relates to the world
Our study addresses the lived experiences of sufferers from burnout during the process of re-habituating the habitual body

Summary

Introduction

I feel helpless because I’m not in control of my life. There seems to be some kind of lid on my existence. The habitual body is recognized in terms of what experiences it has acquired in the past He distinguishes the habitual body from the present body, which might be experienced quite differently, as when suffering from burnout. Our study addresses the lived experiences of sufferers from burnout during the process of re-habituating the habitual body. These research designs have contributed to new knowledge about how to prevent and alleviate burnout, they tend to miss much of the complexity, ambiguity, and ambivalence of individual lived experience Most of these studies reflect a mind-body dualist split where either body or mind is always subordinate to the other (Anjum, 2016; Maeland et al, 2012; Meide et al, 2018). To infer causal connections within a rehabilitation process, the causal mechanisms must be understood in relation to the whole person in his or her environment as both individual and relational, as well as contextual

Objectives

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