ArticleBMJ open2018
'Treading water but drowning slowly': what are GPs' experiences of living and working with mental illness and distress in England? A qualitative study.
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- The relationship between physician burnout and depression, anxiety, suicidality and substance abuse: A mixed methods systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Depression, anxiety, suicidal risks and clinical correlates among migrant Egyptian physicians a cross-sectional study.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- GP workforce sustainability to maximise effective and equitable patient care: a realist review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Review
- Reflections on the use of qualitative research methods: it's not 'fluffy'.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- 'I just felt either I'm going to kill someone or I'm going to end up killing myself'. How does it feel to be burnt out as a practicing UK GP?The European journal of general practice · 2024Article
- Healthcare professionals as domestic abuse survivors: workplace impact and support-seeking.Occupational medicine (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- General practitioner well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative interview study.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Article
- 'Reluctant pioneer': A qualitative study of doctors' experiences as patients with long COVID.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2021Article
- Understanding the impact of professional motivation on the workforce crisis in medicine: a rapid review.BJGP open · 2021Article
- Positioning work related stress - GPs' reasoning about using the WSQ combined with feedback at consultation.BMC family practice · 2020Article
- The experiences of general practitioner partners living with distress: An interpretative phenomenological analysis.Journal of health psychology · 2020Article
- Healthcare professionals' perspectives on lung cancer screening in the UK: a qualitative study.BJGP open · 2020Article
- "Every structure we're taught goes out the window": General practitioners' experiences of providing help for patients with emotional concerns'.Health & social care in the community · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThis paper provides an in-depth account of general practitioners' (GPs) experiences of living and working with mental illness and distress, as part of a wider study reporting the barriers and facilitators to help-seeking for mental illness and burn-out, and sources of stress/distress for GP participants.
designQualitative study using in-depth interviews with 47 GP participants. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, anonymised and imported into NVivo V.11 to facilitate data management. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis employing the constant comparative method.
settingEngland.
participantsA purposive sample of GP participants who self-identified as: (1) currently living with mental distress, (2) returning to work following treatment, (3) off sick or retired early as a result of mental distress or (4) without experience of mental distress. Interviews were conducted face to face or over the telephone.
resultsThe findings report GP participants' in-depth experiences of distress and mental illness with many recollecting their distressing experiences and significant psychological and physical symptoms relating to chronic stress, anxiety, depression and/or burn-out, and a quarter articulating thoughts of suicide. Many talked about their shame, humiliation and embarrassment at their perceived inability to cope with the stresses of their job and/or their symptoms of mental illness.
conclusionsThese findings paint a concerning picture of the situation affecting primary care doctors, with participants' accounts suggesting there is a considerable degree of mental ill health and reduced well-being among GPs. The solutions are complex and lie in prevention and provision. There needs to be greater recognition of the components and cumulative effect of occupational stressors for doctors, such as the increasing workload and the clinical and emotional demands of the job, as well as the need for a culture shift within medicine to more supportive and compassionate work environments.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.