Burnout and stress reaction among psychiatrist working in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Psychiatrists have a stressful life. They are reported to encounter work stress and are prone to burnout. Due to the nature of their profession, they experience fluctuating range of powerful emotions in their clinical work. The aim of this study was to assess the levels of burnout and stress reactions among doctors working at a psychiatric hospital, in Lagos, Nigeria. All the doctors working at the Federal Neuropsychiatry Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria were assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Psycho-physiological Symptoms Checklist (PSC). Twenty–four doctors took part in this study, male = 19, female = 5 females; the mean age of the respondents was 35.61 (SD 7. 031) years and range of 25 – 53 years. There were 2 (8.3%) high scorers in the PSC. With regards to MBI, 23.6% of the sample exhibited high propensity for overall burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and low personal accomplishment). Of the sample surveyed, three (12.5%) scored high on the EE subscale, 8 (33.3%) had a high score on the DP subscale while 6 (25%) scored low on the PA subscale. This study was able to demonstrate that doctors working at the psychiatric hospital in Lagos also showed some degree of burnout and stress reaction.

Key words: Stress, burnout, psychiatrists, Lagos