Medizinonline Medizinonline
  • News
    • News
    • Market & Medicine
  • Patients
    • Disease patterns
    • Diagnostics
    • Therapy
  • Partner Content
    • Dermatology
      • Atopic dermatitis and psoriasis news
      • Dermatology News
    • Diabetes
      • Dia-Month Club – Type 2 Diabetes
      • Diabetes in Motion
      • Diabetes Podcasts
    • Gastroenterology
      • IBD matters
      • Forum Gastroenterology
      • Ozanimod: ulcerative colitis
      • Reflux Update
    • Immunology
      • Primary immunodeficiency – exchange of experience
    • Vaccinate
      • Herpes zoster
    • Infektiologie
    • Neurology
      • EXPERT ULTRASONIC: Introduction to ultrasound-guided injection
      • MS News
      • MS Therapy in Transition
    • Oncology
      • Swiss Oncology in motion
    • Orthopedics
      • Osteoporosis in motion
    • Phytotherapie
    • Practice Management
      • Aargau Cantonal Bank
      • Claraspital
    • Psychiatry
      • Geriatric Psychiatry
    • Rheumatology
  • Departments
    • Allergology and clinical immunology
    • General Internal Medicine
    • Anesthesiology
    • Angiology
    • Surgery
    • Dermatology and venereology
    • Endocrinology and Diabetology
    • Nutrition
    • Gastroenterology and Hepatology
    • Genetics
    • Geriatrics
    • Gynecology
    • Hematology
    • Infectiology
    • Cardiology
    • Nephrology
    • Neurology
    • Emergency and intensive care medicine
    • Nuclear Medicine
    • Oncology
    • Ophthalmology
    • ORL
    • Orthopedics
    • Pediatrics
    • Pharmacology and toxicology
    • Pharmaceutical medicine
    • Phlebology
    • Physical medicine and rehabilitation
    • Pneumology
    • Prevention and health care
    • Psychiatry and psychotherapy
    • Radiology
    • Forensic Medicine
    • Rheumatology
    • Sports Medicine
    • Traumatology and trauma surgery
    • Tropical and travel medicine
    • Urology
    • Dentistry
  • CME & Congresses
    • CME continuing education
    • Congress Reports
    • Congress calendar
  • Practice
    • Noctimed
    • Practice Management
    • Jobs
    • Interviews
  • Log In
  • Register
  • My account
  • Contact
  • English
    • Deutsch
    • Français
    • Italiano
    • Português
    • Español
  • Publications
  • Contact
  • Deutsch
  • English
  • Français
  • Italiano
  • Português
  • Español
Subscribe
Medizinonline Medizinonline
Medizinonline Medizinonline
  • News
    • News
    • Market & Medicine
  • Patienten
    • Krankheitsbilder
    • Diagnostik
    • Therapie
  • Partner Content
    • Dermatology
      • Atopic dermatitis and psoriasis news
      • Dermatology News
    • Diabetes
      • Dia-Month Club – Type 2 Diabetes
      • Diabetes in Motion
      • Diabetes Podcasts
    • Gastroenterology
      • IBD matters
      • Forum Gastroenterology
      • Ozanimod: ulcerative colitis
      • Reflux Update
    • Immunology
      • Primary immunodeficiency – exchange of experience
    • Vaccinate
      • Herpes zoster
    • Infektiologie
    • Neurology
      • EXPERT ULTRASONIC: Introduction to ultrasound-guided injection
      • MS News
      • MS Therapy in Transition
    • Oncology
      • Swiss Oncology in motion
    • Orthopedics
      • Osteoporosis in motion
    • Phytotherapie
    • Practice Management
      • Aargau Cantonal Bank
      • Claraspital
    • Psychiatry
      • Geriatric Psychiatry
    • Rheumatology
  • Departments
    • Fachbereiche 1-13
      • Allergology and clinical immunology
      • General Internal Medicine
      • Anesthesiology
      • Angiology
      • Surgery
      • Dermatology and venereology
      • Endocrinology and Diabetology
      • Nutrition
      • Gastroenterology and Hepatology
      • Genetics
      • Geriatrics
      • Gynecology
      • Hematology
    • Fachbereiche 14-26
      • Infectiology
      • Cardiology
      • Nephrology
      • Neurology
      • Emergency and intensive care medicine
      • Nuclear Medicine
      • Oncology
      • Ophthalmology
      • ORL
      • Orthopedics
      • Pediatrics
      • Pharmacology and toxicology
      • Pharmaceutical medicine
    • Fachbereiche 26-38
      • Phlebology
      • Physical medicine and rehabilitation
      • Phytotherapy
      • Pneumology
      • Prevention and health care
      • Psychiatry and psychotherapy
      • Radiology
      • Forensic Medicine
      • Rheumatology
      • Sports Medicine
      • Traumatology and trauma surgery
      • Tropical and travel medicine
      • Urology
      • Dentistry
  • CME & Congresses
    • CME continuing education
    • Congress Reports
    • Congress calendar
  • Practice
    • Noctimed
    • Practice Management
    • Jobs
    • Interviews
Login

Sie haben noch keinen Account? Registrieren

  • Burnout and depression

Effects of the pandemic exacerbate psychological strain on physicians

    • Education
    • News
    • Prevention and health care
    • Psychiatry and psychotherapy
    • RX
  • 4 minute read

Burnout and depression are two conditions that physicians are having to deal with more and more frequently. Not only with the patients, but above all with themselves. Public opinion and the ever-increasing quality criteria demand the professionally unassailable physician with the highest possible emotional competence. But the dream job can also turn out to be a nightmare – further exacerbated by the Corona pandemic.

It has been known for some time that physicians in particular are often overworked. The working conditions do not exactly contribute to a relaxed work-life balance. Medicine is therefore a profession that can make people ill. Currently even more than before, as a survey has shown. The reason is not solely that colleagues become infected with SARS-CoV-2. No, the work situation of many physicians has been exacerbated by the pandemic. One in two physicians say that their feelings of being overworked and in a bad mood have increased as a result of the crisis.

Burnout and/or depression are common among physicians anyway. Two years ago, 45% of respondents reported suffering from such symptoms. But this share rose by another 10 percentage points between June and August 2020 – with no improvement in sight. 26% of physicians state that they sometimes suffer from depressive moods, 15% have rather burnout symptoms and 14% have both (tab. 1). The boundaries between the clinical pictures are fluid. In total, this is 55% of respondents who do their job every day despite these pressures. The comments reflect how this overload manifests itself: highly functional at work, overstimulated at home, and emotionally inaccessible. In addition, many physicians suffer from sleep disorders, which further fuels exhaustion and nervous stress.

 

 

Root Cause Analysis

Above all, the work situation seems to be causal for the psychological stress of those affected. Especially in the hospital, work seems to get on the nerves: 67% said that the job contributes strongly or very strongly to depressive symptoms. Among colleagues in private practice, only 39% see it the same way. Above all, social isolation, fueled not only by the pandemic but also by an excessive workload, contributes to the poor mood. In addition, there is an excessive bureaucracy and an incapacitating administration. However, physicians also perceive the hopeless handover of their practice, the double burden of children and career, the “constant bombardment by politics and health insurers” and digitization as psychologically stressful. The limits of their workload are reached above all by the unloved duties of managing and documenting their work (44%) and overtime (42%). Physicians in private practice are also more stressed by legislative mandates – 46% compared to hospital employees at only 7%. Hospital physicians, on the other hand, feel more burdened because they spend too much time at work – 49% vs. 34% for physicians in private practice. The difference is even greater in the lack of recognition and respect from administration and employers, as well as from colleagues or employees: 55% in hospitals, 11% in private practices. Another classic that causes great pressure for physicians in hospital operations: when management pressures and profit maximization takes precedence over patient well-being (47% vs. 19%).

Stress trigger corona

The survey clearly shows that the psychological stress of physicians has continued to increase compared to previous years. Since the online questionnaire was completed shortly after the peak phase of the 1st Corona wave, participants were already able to take stock: One in two physicians stated that the pandemic had increased their feelings of burnout. 40% of colleagues could not see any worsening due to the crisis.

What could bring relief?

For each colleague, the problems are a bit different, so there can be no universal solution. When it comes to money, family physicians (56% vs. 28% of specialists) and general practitioners (52% vs. 19% for clinicians) are more likely to speak up. More than half of respondents would take pressure off better pay. Slimmed-down rules, for example, are also seen by family physicians in particular as a burnout antidote (60%). Stress with administration and within the team, on the other hand, is more of an issue for hospital physicians. They want more respect (52% versus 8% for established physicians) from their employers and colleagues. It would also help 41% if they didn’t have to constantly look at the money when treating their patients.

 

 

Doctor – the most difficult patient of all

Those who have already experienced burnout try to stabilize their psyche in different ways. Every fourth physician has reduced his working hours, 22% have organized work differently. Family physicians, in particular, often hire additional staff. However, doctors seem to have a hard time asking for help themselves. 66% of those affected have not yet sought help. Only 5% are currently looking and 6% are thinking about getting help from an expert. This is due, among other things, to the fact that 38% of respondents do not consider their symptoms serious enough – but also to the fact that one in three physicians is simply too busy to take care of themselves and their psyche. A vicious circle that must be broken!

 

Source: Medscape Report: Burnout and Depression in the Corona Crisis – What’s Stressing Physicians Mentally and How They Could Be Helped. 10.11.2020. Available at: https://deutsch.medscape.com/diashow/49000709

 

InFo NEUROLOGY & PSYCHIATRY 2020; 18(6): 44-45 (published 11/30/20, ahead of print).
CARDIOVASC 2020; 19(4): 39-40
InFo PNEUMOLOGY & ALLERGOLOGY 2021: 3(1): 17
DERMATOLOGY PRACTICE 2021; 31(2): 22

Autoren
  • Leoni Burggraf
Publikation
  • InFo NEUROLOGIE & PSYCHIATRIE
Related Topics
  • Burnout
  • Depression
Previous Article
  • Coronary heart disease

Cardiomyopathies – an approach to different manifestations.

  • Cardiology
  • Congress Reports
  • RX
View Post
Next Article
  • Functional gastrointestinal complaints

Visceral hyperalgesia as an important pathomechanism.

  • Education
  • Gastroenterology and Hepatology
  • General Internal Medicine
  • Neurology
  • RX
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • 5 min
  • Asthma in adults

When do pneumology specialists come into play?

    • RX
View Post
  • 10 min
  • Cutaneous lupus erythematosus

From diagnostic workup to successful treatment

    • Congress Reports
    • Dermatology and venereology
    • RX
    • Studies
View Post
  • 4 min
  • Guideline update

Dietary recommendations for Crohn’s disease and colitis

    • Education
    • Gastroenterology and Hepatology
    • General Internal Medicine
    • Nutrition
    • RX
    • Studies
View Post
  • 4 min
  • Circadian rhythm during Ramadan

Disturbed sleep patterns lead to metabolic stress

    • Education
    • Endocrinology and Diabetology
    • General Internal Medicine
    • Nutrition
    • RX
    • Studies
View Post
  • 6 min
  • Case Report

Breast cancer metastases in the bladder

    • Cases
    • Education
    • Gynecology
    • Oncology
    • RX
    • Urology
View Post
  • 11 min
  • Findings from the ALS Symposium 2024 in Montreal

Current and future approaches in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

    • Congress Reports
    • Interviews
    • Neurology
    • RX
    • Studies
View Post
  • 8 min
  • Efficacy, mechanism of action and clinical effects

Garlic and high blood pressure

    • Cardiology
    • Education
    • General Internal Medicine
    • Pharmaceutical medicine
    • Phytotherapy
    • RX
    • Studies
View Post
  • 7 min
  • Moderate to severe chronic hand eczema

Delgocitinib cream – first topical pan-JAK inhibitor approved in Switzerland

    • Allergology and clinical immunology
    • Dermatology and venereology
    • Education
    • Infectiology
    • Market & Medicine
    • Pharmacology and toxicology
    • RX
Top Partner Content
  • Forum Gastroenterology

    Zum Thema
  • Herpes zoster

    Zum Thema
  • Dermatology News

    Zum Thema
Top CME content
  • 1
    Patience, knowledge and persistence in therapy
  • 2
    Sarcopenia and malnutrition in the context of pneumological rehabilitation
  • 3
    Medical and psychosocial perspectives
  • 4
    New nomenclature for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
  • 5
    Examinations and considerations before therapy

Newsletter

Sign up and stay up to date

Subscribe
Medizinonline
  • Contact
  • General terms and conditions
  • Imprint

Input your search keywords and press Enter.