Stress and the practice of medicine. II. Stressors, stresses, and strains.

Stresses of medical practice, recognized as severe, do not increase morbidity and mortality of physicians due to physical illness; the rates of substance dependence, divorces, and mental illness, however, exceed those in the general population. This study was undertaken to explore the effect of stress on physicians and to determine its role in the personal and occupational parameters of adaptation. 100 physicians of various specialties were randomly chosen and their responses to a standard questionnaire were computer analyzed. The previous hypothesis of the motivation of the choice of medicine as a vocation was explored from the point of view of personality features and responses to stress. All physicians reported considerable compulsivity. Its continuous utilization leads to failure of adaptation apparently responsible for further emotional and mental maladaptation. On the whole, the group under study did not show severe psychopathology equal to what has been reported in many other studies. Theoretical and practical aspects of this study are elucidated in the paper.