Occupational Stress among General Practitioners and their Mental Health

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: In recent years, the mental health of General Practitioners (GPs) has become a crucial area of study, given their important role as primary healthcare providers in diverse communities. The demanding nature of their profession, characterized by heavy workload, and time constraints. Objective: The aim of the study is to explore what causes stress, burnout, and other mental health issues among General Practitioners and their effect.

Methods: In the literature review, there is a systematic approach to identify and analyze relevant factors and studies to mental health challenges faced by General Practitioners. Throughout the article, a solid number of studies from databases such as PubMed and Taylor & Francis online has been used to achieve the most significant outcome. In the results, only original articles of quantitative studies have been included.

Results: The findings highlight the varied nature of factors influencing GP mental health. Occupational stressors, including pressure from the field, financial expectations and administrative challenges contribute to stress and hormonal imbalances. Coping mechanisms, such as increased smoking, and alcohol consumption are identified. Gender and age differences in mental health outcomes among GPs are explored, with indications that the Covid-19 pandemic intensified stress and burnout, particularly among female practitioners.

Conclusion: Occupational stress can lead to behavior changes, depression, anxiety, and sleep problems, potentially resulting in burnout or, in extreme cases suicide. Factors affecting occupational stress and mental health differ from individuals, although the main factors for everyone are work-overload, expectations from patients and society and errors for making medical mistakes.