Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
On the stress issue, they make their choices about going into medicine and dealing with the sick and damaged. They are not dealing with the healthy.
Again it isn't always about stress.
Anesthesiologists (both physicians and nurses) have a high incidence of drug and substance addiction compared to other specialties. But it is also a comparatively low stress specialty. Other than visiting a patient pre-operatviely and maybe post-op anesthesiologists don't have that much contact with "sick" patients. They put people under, monitor situation, then bring them back. Am not saying all that is "easy", but it certainly isn't stressful as working an ER, unit or floor 40 hours per week.
It's irresponsible to prescribe Oxy-anything. I can't stand to think that people I know with addiction problems might need surgeries some day and will be given these drugs willy-nilly - and "questions" are not a barrier. People lie.
Our family members that have had surgery (ranging from ACL replacement, hysterectomy, gallbladder removal ), or injuries like broken bones in the last few years have been prescribed a limited number of opiod drugs post op, just enough for maybe 2-3 days post-surgery, with no refills. Hardly an unlimited or "willy-nilly" supply, though none of these folks are drug addicts, and most didn't even use their opioid painkillers beyond the first day after they left the hospital or post-injury.
It's been years since I had occasion to be prescribed narcotic pain pill relief, but morphine and other opioids make me violently sick (vomiting and severe stomach pains) so I have declined these meds on the few occasions I was offered them.
The providers had no problems suggesting tyelenol or an NSAID for pain relief instead and that is what I used.
I recently had minor surgery (pacemaker placement) and found it interesting that I was offered a range of pain relievers- from tyelenol to tyelenol 3 or percocet, I had my choice- while I was still in the hospital. And there was a period of time about 2-3 hours after the surgery (probably after the local anesthetic numbing the operative site wore off) that it felt like a giant toothache extending from just below the incision up to my left jaw. If I'd been intent on getting a narcotic (or felt I deserved one, like many people do, by virtue of having surgery, LOL), I'd have taken them up on their offer of a percocet. But I considered how miserable it'd be to spend the rest of the day puking so I chose the extra strength tyelenol instead, and found that worked well at getting rid of the pain. As it did for the next few days post-op whenever the twinges showed up again.
I don't know if I'd have been offered a prescription for the percocet to fill when I left the hospital, had I chosen that drug for the pain, but I wasn't and didn't need it anyway.
I might be mistaken, but I always thought, medical doctors, had the highest divorce, suicide, drug use, alcoholism rate, you name it, out of any profession, it's a stressful job!
I've seen a few sources making a case for this, but it only works if you use an extremely restricted definition of "profession."
The figures on alcoholism/drug addiction by profession are murky because it's hard to hold a demanding job when consumed by substance abuse - if someone loses a position as a pilot due to drinking and becomes a bartender, do you count them under bartenders or pilots? - but I think it's pretty clear that medical personnel don't consume the most alcohol or drugs of any career field: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...e-day-is-done/
As mentioned above, medicine has one of the 10 lowest divorce rates, just under 25%, I believe. The entire "half of marriages end in divorce" stat is a bit misguided, as the rates are inversely realated to factors like education level and income. The higher those are (as is the case with physicians and their spouses), the lower the divorce rate. For example, I personally can think of only 2 physician couples out of about 12-15 that we knew during residency that have gotten divorced over the past dozen or so years.
As far as the addition rates, medicine is an incredibly stressful job. Mentally, emotionally and in some cases, physically. There are very few jobs that carry the expectation of near constant perfection like medicine does, but it's certainly not the only one. Pilots, air traffic controllers, law enforcement etc. Sadly, many physicians are wary of disclosing or seeking treatment for depression and/or anxiety, because unfortunately, that can and will be used against you. Every licensure application and credentialing packet I have ever seen asks questions about mental health status and treatment. Fortunately, it seems the tide is turning a bit on this with the younger generation and I routinely see discussions on other forums I read where med students and residents openly (though anonymously) discuss these issues.
No one is disputing that doctors are not human. The info is out there on their addiction histories.
Yes, your info is definitely "out there."
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.