Most members of the medical profession feel stressed at some time. If stress is ongoing, impairment may occur (defined as being unable to safely or reliably perform one's role). A continuum appears to exist between functioning well, being distressed and becoming impaired, with external (environment-related) and internal (personal-related) stressors determining where an individual will lie on the continuum.
The full article is accessible to AMA
members and paid subscribers.
Login to MJA or subscribe now.
- 1. Maslach C, Jackson SE. Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual, 3rd ed. Palo Alto, Calif: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1996.
- 2. Taylor GJ, Bagby RM, Ryan DP, et al. Criterion validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Psychosom Med 1988; 50: 500-509.
- 3. Power MJ, Champion LA, Aris SJ. The development of a measure of social support: The Significant Others Scale (SOS). Br J Clin Psychol 1988; 27: 349-358.
- 4. Goldberg D. Manual of the General Health Questionnaire. London: NFER, 1978.
- 5. Loranger AW, Janca A, Sartorius N. Assessment and diagnosis of personality disorders: The ICD-10 International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
- 6. Sheehan DV. The anxiety disease. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.
- 7. Brown GW, Harris TO. Social origins of depression: a study of psychiatric disorder in women. London: Tavistock, 1978.
Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.
This study was supported by grants from the Postgraduate Medical Council of NSW and the NSW Medical Board.