Confronting Corporate Demands and Personal Health
After years in demanding corporate roles, along with a growing awareness of the climate crisis, I (NJ) faced severe burnout and worsening ill health. Traditional profit-focused business models that sacrifice personal and environmental well-being, left me feeling depleted.
I wasn’t alone!
While covering Hurricane Milton for NBC in 2024, meteorologist John Morales had an unexpected emotional breakdown during a poignant on-air moment. The relentless pace of broadcasts and the storm’s growing devastation exposed the intense strain on those reporting climate disasters, showing that even seasoned professionals aren’t immune to mounting pressures in our rapidly changing world.
Burnout among leaders has reached critical levels, compounded by escalating planetary health challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified these pressures, especially for those in healthcare, public service, and climate advocacy. Similarly, Generation Z’s leadership potential is at risk if burnout and climate anxiety go unaddressed. Climate anxiety – distress and fear tied to climate change – is recognized by the United Nations and the American Psychological Association as a major mental health concern. In a 2021 global survey, 45% of those aged 16 to 25 reported anxiety severe enough to disrupt daily life. Continuously exposed to climate events via social media, Generation Z sees corporate and governmental inaction with growing frustration. In one KPMG U.K. survey, one in five respondents had turned down a job over environmental, social and governance misalignment, rising to one in three for 18–24-year-olds.
A new hypothesis suggests chronic, low-grade inflammation links personal, societal, and environmental stressors, reinforcing a “polycrisis” scenario. Similarly, chronic inflammation is considered integral to the long-term sequelae of COVID-19. Because these stressors operate simultaneously and intensify one another, a holistic solution to burnout must address biological, psychological, and ecological domains. Lifestyle medicine – emphasizing preventive, integrative care – offers a promising path.
Lifestyle Medicine: A Holistic Path Forward
Lifestyle medicine is the fastest-growing, adjunctive medical specialty globally. An evidence-based discipline, it uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions to address the root causes of chronic conditions through six pillars: a predominantly plant-based diet, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, avoidance of harmful substances, stress management, and nurturing healthy relationships. These pillars align closely with the Five Principles of Sustainable Healthcare. Lifestyle medicine does not rely on pharmaceutical or technological solutions. Interventions like active travel and plant-based diets reduce carbon emissions while fostering self-efficacy. Delivery can be online and in groups, making it resource-efficient. Thus, lifestyle medicine could provide a crucial tool for personal and environmental resilience.
A study involving members of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine found that physicians who practice lifestyle medicine report higher professional satisfaction, better patient outcomes, and reduced personal burnout. Similarly, Project GAIA, a cross-sectional, consumer survey of 14,626 people in the United States, divided 2375 participants who reported experiencing COVID-19 into five groups based on their lifestyle behaviours. The analysis showed that those adhering most closely to healthier habits – core tenets of lifestyle medicine – were more likely to report lower rates of burnout.
Strengthening Well-being Through Lifestyle Interventions
Lifestyle medicines interventions bolster well-being and leadership capacity while reducing healthcare’s environmental impact. A Yale University randomized controlled trial on mindfulness, gratitude journaling, and loving-kindness meditation showed significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and stress. A UK Biobank analysis revealed that individuals adhering to healthy lifestyle habits had fewer long-term COVID-19 impacts. Global examples underscore this potential: New York City has expanded lifestyle medicine clinics to combat cardiometabolic diseases. Loma Linda University Health runs an inpatient lifestyle consultation service, and India’s Ministry of Ayush introduced nationwide Yoga protocols. In my journey, combining mindfulness with daily habit shifts proved transformative – ultimately prompting me to leave the corporate world – and showed how personal health and environmental stewardship can converge for resilience.
A key pillar of lifestyle medicine is a predominantly plant-based diet (PBD) – rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, while limiting animal and ultra-processed foods. This dietary approach supports better physical and mental health, whilst being essential for keeping the food system within planetary boundaries.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people adhering most to a healthy PBD had a lower risk of infection but also better outcomes if infected, likely due to a healthier gut microbiome, which supports better immunity and lowers inflammation. Interestingly, gut microbiomes from people consuming plant-based diets show significant overlap with soil and plant microbiomes, suggesting dietary sources, particularly fruits and vegetables, contribute directly to gut microbial diversity. In the GAIA survey, amongst participants adhering to a PBD, 65% were within a healthy BMI range, 79% were more likely to describe their diet as “very healthy,” and 51% reported no feelings of stress. I found that embracing a PBD supported my recovery from burnout, benefited my physical health and renewed my sense of purpose.
Five strategies for healthcare leaders to translate these insights into action:
- Promote Healthy Work Environments
Prioritize plant-based meals, support active travel, and create infrastructure for healthy habits, ensuring easy adoption within clinical and organizational settings. - Recognize and Mitigate Stress
Offer mental health resources, flexible scheduling, and mindfulness programs, addressing burnout and climate anxiety through open dialogue and practical interventions. - Empower Communities
Collaborate with local organizations on group exercise, cooking workshops, or environmental stewardship efforts—emphasizing culturally relevant, resilience-building activities. - Streamline Workflows
Use lean processes to cut waste, carbon footprints, and stress, engaging all stakeholders to maintain a balanced, efficient work environment. - Prioritize Regenerative Practices
Champion systems that restore rather than deplete resources, acknowledging inequities and supporting community-led solutions for equitable, sustainable healthcare delivery.
My (NJ) struggle and John Morales’s on-air crisis, reveal that burnout transcends the individual. By recognizing it as both personal and planetary, leaders can embrace lifestyle medicine and sustainable healthcare to foster resilience and shape a future defined by well-being and equity.
Authors
Dr. Shireen Kassam
Dr. Shireen Kassam is a Consultant Haematologist, Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician and Visiting Professor of Plant-Based Nutrition. She is founder of Plant-Based Health Professionals UK, a community interest company that provides education on healthy plant-based diets. Her first book, Eating Plant-Based, Scientific Answers to Your Nutrition Questions, co-authored with her sister Zahra, was published in January 2022. She has also co-edited the textbook Plant-Based Nutrition in Clinical Practice, published in September 2022
Declaration of interests
I have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: Founder and Director of Plant-Based Health Professionals UK
Nivi Jaswal
Nivi Jaswal is the Founder and President of The Virsa Foundation, Inc., a 501c3 U.S. Nonprofit and its JIVINITI Research and Advocacy program with an interest in connecting the dots between public health and planetary health through the lens of modern post-industrial food systems.
Declaration of interests
I have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and declared the following interests: Founder and President of The Virsa Foundation, Inc. The Virsa Foundation commissioned and produced the consumer survey “Project GAIA” in partnership with Ipsos U.S. Global Affairs.