New research documents high levels of psychiatric problems among physician trainees, concluding that a change of culture around mental health is needed to get them to seek help.
Published against the background of a “cluster of recent suicides among NSW physician trainees” the report aimed to evaluate the extent of alcohol use, burnout, psychiatric problems and lack of job satisfaction among RACP physicians trainees completing training in NSW hospitals.
“The level of distress is high and requires system changes to support both individual health measures and structural change to work and study programs,” it said.
Roughly half of those questioned met the researchers’ screening criteria for depression (53%), stress (51%) and anxiety (46%).
Those questioned said the main reasons they weren’t getting help for depression or anxiety were;
- lack of time – 81%
- fear of lack of confidentiality – 41%
- embarrassment – 39%
- potential effect on registration – 27%
Mirroring stigmatising attitudes towards mental health within the profession shown in other studies, 58% of respondents believed experiencing depression or anxiety “was a sign of personal weakness”.
The study, published in the Australian Health Review, catalogued a range of problematic behaviour.
While 88% of respondents said they felt doctors should portray an image of health, 46% didn’t get regular exercise and 76% slept less than six hours per day.
Some 20% showed risky alcohol consumption, with higher levels among the female cohort, and 76% experienced high burnout, again with a higher female skew.
Secondary traumatic stress (STS) was also exceptionally high throughout the group with higher scores among females.