Those 50% that drink 2 times p/week or more, go behind their own medical advice and over the limit, that could mean 20/30% more risk on stomach or bowel cancer. 50% of patients do not even dare to ask their doctor a question. After reading this study, I understand why. If you want cannabis as medicine on prescription, you will quickly be named a 'junkie'. It happens to many. This review is a follow up on my article from 2013: Tips when requesting prescriptions medical cannabis at doctor, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist or hospital. Or two..

Be prepared when you visit a doctor..

Participants: 417 UK doctors with an equivalent split of gender:

Results: 44% of doctors binge-drank and 5% met the criteria for alcohol dependence; 24%–29% experienced negative emotions after overeating and 8% had a binge-eating disorder; 20%–61% had some type of sleep problem: 12% had severe/moderate insomnia; 69% had fatigue: 19%–29% experienced other types of ill health problems. Results show that occupational distress and job factors increase the odds of doctors using substances, having sleep problems, presenting with frequent symptoms of ill health and binge-eating. Example, burnout increased the risk of all types of sleep problems, eg, difficulty falling/staying asleep, insomnia (OR ≥1.344; p≤0.036). Even taking into consideration whether or not a doctor works in a hospital, risk of health problems still rises when doctors have signs of occupational distress.

Conclusion: Early recognition of occupational distress can prevent health problems among UK doctors that can reduce the quality of patient care because of sickness-related absence.

Introduction: Distress suffered by doctors has significant consequences for patient care. A recent meta-analysis of 47 studies found that burned-out doctors were more likely to provide poor quality care because of reduced professionalism, and they were more likely to be associated with poor patient satisfaction and incidents that jeopardies patient safety.1 There is a high prevalence of distress among doctors in the UK, with a systematic review of 30 studies showing that 17%–52% of doctors have psychiatric morbidity,2 higher than the prevalence rate of 19% in the general population,3 and 31%–54% of doctors have a type of burnout called emotional exhaustion.2 Little is known, however, about whether occupational distress raises the risk of health problems (eg, insomnia, binge-drinking) that might compel doctors to be absent from work or take sick leave resulting in understaffing and a risk to patient safety. Doctors, on average, report equivalent or lower rates of alcohol abuse than the general population,9 but daily alcohol consumption or binge-drinking that does not meet the threshold for diagnosis of alcoholism is still problematic. In USA, 10% of doctors drink alcohol daily and 8% report severe alcohol or drug misuse or dependence at some point in their lives.5 Prescription drug abuse is particularly problematic because doctors are up to five times more likely to use prescription drugs than the general population due to easier access or familiarity with prescription drugs, for example, 24% of US doctors use benzodiazepine and 40% use minor opiates.5 32.7% of doctors had psychiatric morbidity and 55.3% were emotionally exhausted.

How many doctors use alcohol or drugs ?.

* 53% of doctors drank alcohol ≥ 2 times a week,

* 27% consumed ≥3 drinks on a typical day of drinking and

* 44% binge-drank by consuming 6+ drinks on one occasion.

* 5% of doctors met the criteria for alcohol dependence, rest of doctors did not report significant impairments in their occupational or other functioning as a result of drinking alcohol.

44% of doctors used some type of drugs but almost all were non-illicit drugs:

* 3% of doctors used prescription opioids.

* 2% used benzodiazepines.

* 5% used sleep medication.

* 5% smoked tobacco.

* 7% used herbal or homeopathic remedies.

* 35% used over-the-counter medicines.

Illegal drug use was rare: only one doctor reported cocaine use and one doctor used amyl nitrite. No doctor reported using amphetamines, anabolic steroids, cannabis, ecstasy, heroin, ketamine, khat, LSD, magic mushrooms, mephedrone, methadone, methamphetamine or tranquillizers.

Are distressed doctors more likely to use alcohol/drugs?

* 34% saying that they used substances in order to feel better.

*22% used substances to help them get through stressful events.

Variance in doctors using substances to help them get through something (6%), drinking alcohol frequently (38%) and large amounts (12%), binge-drinking (28%) and being alcohol dependent (28%).

How many doctors binge-eat ?.

* 35% of doctors ate a large amount of food when they were not physically hungry.

* 31% ate until they felt uncomfortably full and

* 24%–29% of doctors experienced negative emotions after overeating such as embarrassment, disgust, depression or guilt.

* 8% of doctors had a binge-eating disorder.

Are distressed doctors more likely to binge-eat ?.

* 8.1%–17.1% of variance in binge-eating habits.

How many doctors have sleep disturbances ?.

Occupational distress and job factors significantly predicted sleep disturbances among doctors:

* 22% of doctors had difficulty falling asleep,

* 35% difficulty staying asleep,

* 44% were dissatisfied with their sleep pattern,

* 20% were worried or distressed about a current sleep problem.

* 35% of doctors’ sleep problems interfered with daily functioning.

Thinking about work contributed to sleep problems;

* 61% of doctors thought about work when they went to bed.

* 49% had trouble sleeping if they postponed something they were supposed to do that day.

* 12% of doctors had severe/moderate insomnia.

How many doctors suffer from daily or frequent ill health ?.

* 69% had fatigue.

* 19%-29% frequently experienced other type of ill health problems, for example, upset stomach, backache and headaches.

* Only 8% or fewer doctors reported frequent (daily/weekly) non-menstrual stomach cramps, constipation, appetite loss and dizziness.

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