40% of Aussie doctors with serious depression avoiding treatment: study

But 'change is happening', says Dr Chris Cotton

Junior doctors, IMGs, male doctors and surgeons are among the doctors least likely to seek help for serious depression, a study suggests.

Published in Internal Medicine Journal this month, the results are based on a secondary analysis of data from a national mental health survey in 2013.

Of the 12,000 doctors who took part, over a third said they had experienced symptoms of serious depression at least once in their working lives

But 40% of these doctors did not seek any form of professional help, with most citing embarrassment or privacy concerns among the reasons.