Problem
Substance abuse by physicians
Other Names:
Drug abuse by health workersSmoking by physicians
Alcohol abuse by doctors
Nature:
Due to the unique stresses of a medical career (long hours, family pressures, lack of sleep, poor nutrition, exposure to diseases, lack of exercise) plus the easy access to pure drugs, many doctors are drug abusers. Doctors generally tend to ignore their own illnesses and when found out, there is not any specific counselling service or treatment available to them.
Background:
Physicians and nonphysicians who are depressed tend to self-medicate. Alcohol is the easiest and most available chemical used to try to treat depression. The flip side is that those who abuse alcohol often have a diagnosable depressive disorder. When there is a stigma associated with seeking psychiatric help or with taking antidepressants, the need to relieve symptoms often goes underground in the form of alcohol abuse.
Incidence:
The AMA estimated, in 1984, that at least 4,000 of the 500,000 doctors in the USA were addicted to drugs, opium and cocaine being the favourites. It also reported that the addiction rate for doctors in the USA is 30-100 times higher than in the general population.
Broader Problems:
Substance abuse by role modelsUnethical practice of health professionalsOccupational risks and hazards of the medical profession Strategies:
Preventing substance abuse by physiciansCampaigning against smokingReducing smoking with health incentives Subject(s):
Health Care → Health workersHealth Care → Physicians
Recreation → Interests
Societal Problems → Addiction, drug abuse
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
E: Emanations of other problems Date of last update
06.05.2019 – 18:05 CEST