Doom

One of my daily routines in the post clinical practice life that I lead is combing through LinkedIn. I place my substacks in LinkedIn, so that seems sort of productive. But I admit that there is a bit of doomscrolling with this activity. Do I recognize some of the people who post? What could I have done differently with my career? What is the current buzz in the health care world? Are there employers who would still want/need me (on my terms, of course)?

There are a lot of posts on the industrialization of the practice of medicine, and burnout. There are promoters of their careers in such areas as coaching (myself included). There are humble braggers who post about their wonderful achievements.

Then there are these non-ironic titles that people attach to themselves. The comedy writes itself (but I will try anyway):

Spontaneous Encourager - these people must be annoying. Jump!

Strategic Executive Leader- as opposed to being a non- strategic executive leader. Does a certain orange man come to mind?

Former Solution Consultant- did the person run out of solutions?

Brand Partnership - great for sports teams and other businesses needing logos.

Chief Experience Officer- what kind of experiences? Like RFK Jr.’s experiences as a heroin addict?

Chief Talent Officer- This was not a sports recruiter.

The names of these experts have been withheld to protect the innocent.

I must admit that, as a business school graduate, I do see some logic in these titles. And I also must admit that I prop up my CV in my LinkedIn profile. I am part of the problem.

I have read that doomscrolling is an addictive, non-productive, and depression causing thing to do. I agree. I will be at it nevertheless. What else are you supposed to do if you are on a 3 hour waiting line to go through security at the airport?