A report has revealed that an increasing number of medical professionals are at high risk of psychological burnout. The British Medical Association (BMA) has warned of a mental health crisis among doctors and medical students after a survey of more than 4,300 found that over a quarter have received psychiatric diagnosis.
The report revealed that 40% of doctors are suffering from one of a range of psychological or emotional conditions. Half of GPs said they or someone in their practice has seeked help for a condition that was affecting the way they worked. One in three admitted to resorting to alcohol, drugs or self-prescribing as a way of getting through their shifts at work.
90% of respondents admitted that their current working, training or studying environment had contributed to their condition either to a significant or partial extent.
Professor Dinesh Bhugra, BMA President, said: “This report shines an important light on the alarming mental health crisis currently burdening the medical workforce as the link between the current pressures on doctors and poor mental health can no longer be ignored.”
He added: “As the people who are entrusted with caring for the health of others, doctors often feel particularly vulnerable or unable to come forward and seek help for fear of judgement and or any perceived ramifications a declaration of poor mental health may have on their prospective career.”
The BMA is urges a change in current workplace culture to become a supportive working environment. BMA said the long hours and heavy workload experienced by doctors and medical students is pushing them towards a “burnout”.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said in a statement: “Our upcoming People Plan will lay out the actions we will undertake to overhaul the mental health and wellbeing support on offer for all NHS staff.
“Alongside the BMA, we recently announced improvements to shared parental leave arrangements for doctors – part of our commitment to improve working conditions to make the NHS an employer fit for the 21st century.”
The NHS employs 1.7 million staff, 80% of doctors and medical students are at high or very high risk of burnout, driven mainly by ‘exhaustion’.
Dr Thomas Kitchen, an anaesthetist specialist trainee, who works at Health Education and Improvement Wales, struggled with his mental health after a colleague’s suicide. He said: ‘As doctors, our daily interactions with patients and their families, who are often at the height of their own emotional distress, can take its toll.
‘We strive to do our best for our patients, whether that’s in training, in practising medicine or delivering care but we are often under-prepared for the everyday emotional experiences of the job, never mind when these experiences become exceptional.’
