The number of doctors in Australia who are depressed has been rising steadily with the suicide rate among medical professionals higher than the national average
The number of doctors in Australia who are depressed has been rising steadily with the suicide rate among medical professionals higher than the national average, a mental health group revealed. Researchers from the Doctors' Mental Health Program analyzed found that while depression among medical professionals is on the rise, a large majority of the doctors refuse to get psychiatric help to deal with the problem.
Instead most of the doctors go for self prescription with drugs such as benzodiazepines being a popular choice, leading to the worsening of the condition in majority of the cases. The research was conducted by the backing of the national depression initiative, beyondblue and was headed by former president of the Australian Medical Association Dr Mukesh Haikerwal.
“The key concern is that the medical profession doesn't seek help for various and many reasons and it's very important that they do. We see a greater rate of suicide in the medical profession, much more amongst women in the profession, and we don't need to get to that stage, we need to get help early and treat it”, Dr Haikerwal said.
Source-Medindia