Depression in Docs on the Rise in Australia

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.

Depression - Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders affecting approximately 340 million people in the world. No one is immune from depression - it occurs in people of all social classes, all countries and all cultural settings.

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

Adolescent Depression - Causes - Affects - Depressed Teens - Treatment - FAQs
Adolescent depression is an ailment that occurs during the teenage characterized by persistent melancholy, disappointment and loss of self-esteem.

Depression Calculator
A quick, simple and anonymous self-assessment health tool to assess the level of depression using the famous Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale.

Depression Screening Test
Online Depression Screening Test tells if you have mild or chronic depression based on your depression symptoms. Learn how to deal with depression by using this self-assessment calculator.