Healthcare providers deal with a tremendous amount of stress, burnout, and depression during normal circumstances, but the COVID-19 pandemic has placed additional pressure on healthcare providers and brought a greater risk of psychological distress.
However, doctors and other medical workers are often reluctant to disclose mental health difficulties or seek help for them. Here’s what we know.
Help doctors catch a break with Ravel Mental Health.
Common Mental Health Disorders Among Healthcare Providers
Doctors and other healthcare workers are not exempt from experiencing mental illness. These healthcare workers endure incredibly high-stress working conditions, shift after shift. Day in and day out, they exert significant physical and mental effort to deliver safe patient care, often in life and death situations. And the rate at which doctors live with mental illness and mental health disorders is staggering.
Suicide
Suicide among doctors is not uncommon. It’s estimated that between 300 and 400 doctors die by suicide each year. The suicide rate for physicians is twice as high as that of active-duty military members. Further, the rate of suicide in male doctors is 40% higher than male peers, and female doctors have a 130% higher rate of suicide than women in the general population.
Substance Abuse
Healthcare providers have increased access to drugs, which can contribute to higher rates of misuse and dependence. Physicians and nurses often abuse substances to manage work-related depression and anxiety. Prescription drugs are often illegally used, and studies show that 69% of doctors reported that they abused prescription medicine to “relieve stress and physical or emotional pain.”
In addition to prescription drug abuse, alcohol is often an issue for healthcare providers. Research shows that 12.9% of male doctors and 21.9% of female doctors reported abusing alcohol. These rates are much higher than the 6.2% of the overall U.S. population.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common among healthcare workers, particularly those who work with critically ill or injured patients. Among those most vulnerable to PTSD are doctors who provide emergency care in rural areas with limited resources, those in residency training, and those involved in malpractice litigation. Recent studies show that approximately 18% of nurses, 17% of emergency physicians, and 21.5% of emergency medicine residents have PTSD.
Depression
Medical professionals and medical students have alarmingly high rates of depression. In the U.S., medical students have a rate of depression up to 30% higher than that of the general population. During training, 20% of resident physicians reported experiencing major depressive episodes, compared to just 8% of the general population. Nurses are also prone to depression, with 18% of nurses in America reporting signs of the mental disorder.
Anxiety
Medical professions are very demanding, and there is little room for error. Studies show that 24% of doctors suffer from anxiety, and 13.2% have severe anxiety. Additionally, anxiety seems to grow over time and is significantly higher among female physicians.
Chronic Stress
The percentage of doctors with “above threshold” stress levels is 28% compared to the general population. This leads to higher emotional exhaustion rates, with 43% of doctors suffering from emotional exhaustion compared to 24% for the general population.
Burnout
Many factors contribute to physician burnout, including long working hours, disrespect from colleagues, and inadequate salaries. These signs of burnout among doctors often begin during medical school and continue throughout their medical careers. Young doctors seem to be especially prone to burnout, with 38% of millennial physicians reporting that they suffer from burnout. Overall, 54% of physicians and nurses report being burned out.
Barriers to Mental Healthcare for Doctors
Despite these unsettling truths, there are very real barriers that can deter medical providers from seeking treatment for mental health issues.
- Stigma Among Peers
The fear of stigma is strong among healthcare workers. As a result, many physicians do not admit to struggling with mental health issues and are unlikely to seek treatment due to fear of humiliation by their peers within the medical community.
- Licensing Fears
Most state medical licensing boards in America include questions about mental health history. Studies show that these questions can deter physicians from seeking help for mental health issues out of fear that it would affect their ability to practice medicine or damage their professional reputation. Additionally, a study conducted by the Mayo Clinic in 2017 found that 40% of physicians do not seek mental health help due to fear that it would endanger their medical license.
- Unrealistically High Standards
Due to their completive nature, medical health providers hold themselves to incredibly high standards, making them less likely to admit when they need help or treatment.
- Feeling Unfit
Healthcare providers enter the healthcare industry to care for others. They may feel unqualified to effectively care for others if they themselves need mental health treatment.
Breaking the Stigma
Mental health stigma in the healthcare industry is all too high. National studies have found that 66% of male physicians and 58% of female physicians who reported burnout or depression had never received professional help, were not currently seeking professional help, and did not plan to seek professional help. So what can therapists do to help break this stigma?
Find Opportunities for Education
Whether it’s online, at professional conferences, or in one-on-one conversations, therapists have opportunities to interact with medical providers and share information about mental health in a way that normalizes it. By routinely shining a light on mental health in these settings, it could help physicians to start to think about it and consider whether it’s something they personally need.
Don’t Hide from the Stigma
Pretending like the stigma doesn’t exist won’t help anyone. Instead, when therapists engage in honest conversations around stigma in the healthcare industry, it shifts the culture toward acknowledgment and acceptance rather than continuing on the same path.
Encourage Equality Between Physical and Mental Illness
Reframing the conversation around mental health can help break stigma. More than anyone, doctors and physicians understand that individuals should not forgo necessary treatments – inhalers for those with asthma or surgery for those with a ruptured appendix. The more healthcare providers view mental healthcare as essential as physical healthcare, the less stigma can thrive.
Be Transparent About Treatment
Doctors are technical people who treat people every day. They likely won’t respond well to mystery in a therapeutic setting. Therapeutic transparency allows for an open dialogue between therapists and physicians regarding the process that will be used for treatment and why that is the best option.
Be an Advocate
Therapists are peers to medical providers. This makes therapists some of the best advocates for mental healthcare among doctors and other medical professionals. By taking the time and effort to help empower medical providers with mental health conditions, therapists can act as allies and help break down barriers.
Sign Up to Ravel Mental Health
Ravel Mental Health is an online platform that streamlines the booking process for clients and makes it easier for them to find the right therapist for them. Medical professionals with demanding schedules will benefit from the ease of booking that Ravel Mental Health has to offer. Therapists can sign up for the platform to make their services readily available to better support physicians who need their help now more than ever.
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