Who seeks help? Characteristics of doctors accessing mental health support in England: 4-year national review

Background
Mental health difficulties affect the well-being of doctors and compromise the delivery of healthcare. However, large-scale data on doctors’ mental health needs are limited.

Aims
Describe patterns of self-referrals for mental health support among doctors in England and explore associations with demographic factors, speciality, neurodevelopmental and mental health indicators.

Method
Observational study using data from doctors who self-referred for mental health difficulties to a national service in England over a 4-year period. Logistic regression was used to explore associations between speciality and mental health indicators.

Results
Of the 16 815 doctors who self-referred during the study period, 80% were under the age of 49 and 70.6% were female with the two largest ethnicities being 65.1% White and 22.7% Asian. Women were more likely to report higher scores for depression (odds ratio 0.90, 95% CI = 0.84 to 0.97), anxiety (odds ratio 0.78, 95% CI = 0.72 to 0.84) and psychological distress (odds ratio 0.78, 95% CI = 0.70 to 0.87), but males were more likely to screen positive for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Doctors in general practice accounted for 46.3% of referrals. Compared with them, doctors in most other specialities had higher odds of elevated mental health scores across all measures, including ADHD.

Conclusions
The findings highlight a significant mental health burden among self-referring doctors, particularly for females and doctors in non-general practice specialities. Tailored and easily accessible support strategies that account for both demographic and professional contexts are essential to address the diverse mental health needs of the medical workforce.