'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?

To explore how it feels to be a burnt out GP in the NHS. In depth qualitative interviews with 16 UK GPs with self-declared 'lived experience' of burnout. United Kingdom Primary Care. Seven male and nine female GPs described their experiences of burnout to a peer researcher. Themes identifi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European journal of general practice 2024-12, Vol.30 (1), p.2426981
Main Authors: Whitehead, Ishbel Orla, Moffatt, Suzanne, Hanratty, Barbara
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Burnout
Burnout, Professional - prevention & control
Burnout, Professional - psychology
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Empathy
Female
general practice
General Practitioners - psychology
Guilt
Health sciences
Humans
Interviews
Interviews as Topic
Male
Middle Aged
Patients
Primary care
Qualitative Research
Shame
Social Stigma
State Medicine
United Kingdom
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:To explore how it feels to be a burnt out GP in the NHS. In depth qualitative interviews with 16 UK GPs with self-declared 'lived experience' of burnout. United Kingdom Primary Care. Seven male and nine female GPs described their experiences of burnout to a peer researcher. Themes identified were exhaustion and depersonalisation, mental and physical illness, identity and existential crises, and finally tenacity and resilience. Participants were self-reflective and described distress, shame, stigma, and guilt, including times of suicidal behaviour and isolation due to their burnout. Burnout threatens a GP's sense of identity, purpose, and functioning in their lives, and ultimately can be life-threatening. Active listening to GP distress and a system wide approach to managing distress and burnout is urgently required.
ISSN:1381-4788
1751-1402
1751-1402
DOI:10.1080/13814788.2024.2426981