Old age psychiatrists: what do they find stressful?

OBJECTIVE: To examine the main sources of stress for practising old age psychiatrists. DESIGN: Postal survey. SETTING: Old age psychiatry services in England and Wales. PARTICIPANTS: Old age psychiatrists on the list held by the Section of Old Age Psychiatry, Royal College of Psychiatrists. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number and nature of stresses identified by respondents. MAIN RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-eight old age psychiatrists identified a mean of 5.1 stresses per respondent, which fell into seven broad categories: changes within the health service, community care changes, personal, management-related, resource-related, related to time pressures, overwork and others. CONCLUSIONS: Unavoidable stresses were rarely listed. Most were related to work overload and organizational structure and climate. More research is needed on stress in other areas of psychiatry, ways to minimize/prevent stress and how to optimize the balance between work and home life.