UK: 1 in 3 Medics Use Alcohol to Self-Medicate
Alcohol use to alleviate work stress commonplace among profession – indicating severe mental health issues.
Occupational distress and job factors increase the odds of doctors using substances, according to researchers from Birkbeck College and University College London, with alcohol frequently cited as one of those most used. The data paints a worrying picture of the UK’s 251,000 practising medics:
- Just over half (53%) of doctors cosnumed alcohol at least twice a week.
- Almost half (44%) binge used alcohol.
- One in three (34%) used alcohol to improve their mood.
- One in five (22%) admitted to using alcohol to deal with a stressful events.
- 5% met the criteria for alcohol dependence.
The results also showed that having more experience working in medicine raised the risk of a doctor consuming alcohol frequently, but lowered the risk of binge alcohol use, whereas doctors who worked in a hospital were more likely to consume high amounts of alcohol on a typical day of alcohol consumption and to binge use.