As the world observes World Mental Health Day, conversations around burnouts, work culture, whether toxic or healthy, and mental health has become more so urgent than ever. While some are learning to set boundaries through quiet quitting- a process when an employee mentally and emotionally checks out from their job, doing only the bare minimum required by their role without going "above and beyond"; others are also trying to explore neuroscience tools that could revolutionize the way we understand and treat mental health issues. Quiet Quitting Is the Subtle Cry Against BurnoutDr. Madhusudan Singh Solanki, Senior Psychiatrist and Head of the Department of Mental Health & Behavioral Sciences at Max Smart Superspeciality Hospital, says that quiet quitting, doing only what one’s job requires, can often be a manifestation of silent burnout.“When burnout sets in due to high stress, overwork, or a toxic work culture, employees lose their drive and energy. They do the bare minimum to hold on to their jobs, which we now popularly call quiet quitting,” explains Dr. Solanki.He adds that while setting limits at work can sometimes be healthy, a prolonged state of disengagement could be a red flag. “If emotional withdrawal continues for too long, it may point to dissatisfaction or mental health struggles. That’s when it begins to hurt relationships, productivity, and self-worth,” he notes.Is Overworking A Badge of Honor?Research has shown that working beyond 50 to 55 hours a week has damaging effects. It can cause anxiety, sleep disturbances, and burnout to an extent that it can lead to physical illness including heart diseases or chronic illness like diabetes. “Long working hours don’t translate into better output,” says Dr. Solanki. “In fact, they reduce productivity and can lead to strained personal lives and poor mental health.”He emphasizes that organizations play a crucial role in preventing burnout. “Employees are human beings with lives beyond work. When organizations create healthy work policies—like fixed hours, breaks, fair compensation, and mental health support—it not only protects employees but boosts loyalty and productivity in the long run.”Quiet quitting, he says, can sometimes be a temporary act of self-preservation if used to reset work-life balance. But left unchecked, it risks turning into chronic disengagement and even depression.The Science Of HealingWhile one part of the world is learning to cope with burnout, another is working to decode the brain itself. According to Dr. Anant Jain, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at CHINTA, TCG-CREST, technological breakthroughs are opening up new frontiers in understanding how mental illnesses develop, and how they might be treated in the future.“The brain is extraordinarily complex, and mental health disorders often stem from very fine molecular and circuit-level disruptions,” he explains. “By observing how neurons communicate and adapt during learning or stress, we can start identifying what goes wrong in disorders like depression, autism, or Alzheimer’s.”Scientists have now developed genetically encoded biosensors that allow them to watch cellular processes in real time—like how energy (ATP) is produced in neurons during learning or how protein activity changes during memory formation. “These ultra-sensitive tools can help detect dysfunctions early, before symptoms even appear,” says Dr. Jain. “That means future therapies could be more targeted and preventive rather than reactive.”Using two-photon imaging and optogenetics, researchers can now visualize and even manipulate specific neural pathways in animal models. This precision could pave the way for treatments that restore normal brain function without the broad, side-effect-laden impact of current drugs.By linking brain activity directly to mental states, these innovations promise to transform mental health care from a trial-and-error approach into one driven by data and individual biology. “We’re moving toward precision medicine, where treatments are tailored to each person’s neural patterns,” Dr. Jain says.
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