The Perspective of General Practitioners about Mental Illness: A Cross-sectional Observational Study from a Tertiary Care Centre, Pakistan

Objectives: To assess the general practitioner's perspective on mental illness in a tertiary health care setting.

Study Setting and Duration: Online seminar in March 2020, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi.

Study Design: Cross-sectional, Observational study

Methodology: A total of 152 general practitioners were enrolled in the study. All house officers, psychiatric specialists, staff members, and patients were excluded from the study. An online survey instrument was used to collect data from general practitioners through social media. The questionnaire was related to the biodata of the physicians and their perspective on mental health disorders. Data was analyzed by using SPSS Version 26.

Results: A total of 152 general practitioners participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 39.76 (11.540) years. The majority of them were male and married with an average experience of 12.80 (10.90) years. According to the participants, the most common symptoms experienced by patients with mental disorders were loss of appetite, hopelessness, and the loss of interest in day to day activities. The majority of the doctors confessed they find the treatment and management of psychiatric illnesses the hardest. Most of the participants were aware of the diagnostic criteria used for common mental health disorders. Over a hundred (66.4%) participants considered mental health disorders to be a medical disorder while 16 (10.5%) assumed it is the possession by supernatural creatures. 65 (42.7%) of the doctors confessed that they would not feel comfortable having a coworker or befriending a person with a diagnosed mental health issue.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that general physicians had good knowledge about common mental illnesses; however they found the management of these patients difficult. Mental health awareness and training intervention tools are needed to help improve the perspective of health care professionals towards patients with suspected mental illnesses.