The experiences of general practitioner partners living with distress:: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Johanna Spiers; Marta Buszewicz; Carolyn Anne Chew-Graham; Ruth Riley

doi:10.1177/1359105318758860

The experiences of general practitioner partners living with distress: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Johanna Spiers, Marta Buszewicz, Carolyn Anne Chew-Graham, Ruth Riley

Applied Health Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

215 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Doctors, including general practitioners, experience higher levels of mental illness than the general population. General practitioners who are partners in their practices may face heightened stress. In total, 10 general practitioner partners living with work-related distress were interviewed, and transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three major themes arose: (1) extreme distress, (2) conflicted doctor identity and (3) toxic versus supportive workplace relationships. Participants detailed symptoms of depression, anxiety and burnout; reported conflicted identities; and discussed the impact of bullying partnerships. We recommend that organisational interventions tackling issues such as bullying be implemented and opportunities to debrief be offered as protected time activities to general practitioner partners.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Health Psychology
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105318758860
Publication status	Published - 22 Feb 2018

Keywords

anxiety
depression
distress
interpretative phenomenological analysis
mental illness
primary care

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

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title = "The experiences of general practitioner partners living with distress:: An interpretative phenomenological analysis",

abstract = "Doctors, including general practitioners, experience higher levels of mental illness than the general population. General practitioners who are partners in their practices may face heightened stress. In total, 10 general practitioner partners living with work-related distress were interviewed, and transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three major themes arose: (1) extreme distress, (2) conflicted doctor identity and (3) toxic versus supportive workplace relationships. Participants detailed symptoms of depression, anxiety and burnout; reported conflicted identities; and discussed the impact of bullying partnerships. We recommend that organisational interventions tackling issues such as bullying be implemented and opportunities to debrief be offered as protected time activities to general practitioner partners.",

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