The following list is not a validated questionnaire but if you find yourself frequently answering “yes” to the following questions, then perhaps it is time to offload a little and connect into the GP Support programme, by using the voucher for counselling you receive as part of this programme:
- Do you feel overworked?
- Do you feel undervalued for the work you do?
- Do you struggle to get out of bed in the morning for fear of what you will have to deal with that day?
- Does your heart sink when you see your appointment list?
- Do you get to the end of each day and feel overwhelmed by the burden of your patient’s problems?
- Are you deliberately trying to spend less time with patients?
- In managing problems do you find yourself just going by the book rather than creatively meeting the individual needs of your patients?
- Do you have difficulty expressing your true feelings and instead talk in generalities?
- Do you ‘intellectualise’ your feelings when dealing with difficult emotional situations, thereby minimising your personal involvement?
- Do you joke about or disparage your patients?
- Do you expect too much of yourself, taking your successes for granted and berating yourself for your failures?
- Do you pour out your troubles to your staff?
- Do you self-medicate?
- Do you feel isolated from your colleagues?
- Do you spend more time in your room and less time talking to colleagues?