Humiliation

Humiliation is a powerful negative emotional experience in which a person feels degraded, shamed, or disrespected—usually in front of others. In clinical environments like neurosurgery, humiliation can severely damage morale, learning, and team trust.

Humiliation involves:

• A perceived loss of dignity or status
• Public exposure of error or inadequacy
• Imbalance of power between the one humiliating and the one humiliated

It goes beyond embarrassment by adding intentionality, publicness, and power dynamics.

• A resident being mocked in front of peers for a wrong answer.
• A scrub nurse being yelled at in the OR over a minor mistake.
• A junior surgeon’s complications being presented in M&M rounds with sarcasm or ridicule.

“He was not just corrected—he was humiliated in front of the whole OR team.”

• Decreased psychological safety
• Suppression of questions and communication
• Emotional distress, burnout, and disengagement
• Long-term impairment in professional development

• Promote a culture of respectful teaching
• Correct privately when possible
• Use debriefing, not degrading
• Model humility and vulnerability as a leader
• Train attendings and seniors in **mentorship skills**

“Teaching through humiliation produces silence, not excellence.”