Medics to get mental health support

Doctors are to be offered special support to cope with mental illness and addictions.

A report, commissioned after a young psychiatrist killed herself and her baby daughter while suffering bipolar disorder, recommended a number of improvements to the way doctors' mental health was managed.

The study, Mental Health and Ill Health in Doctors, found medics were often reluctant to seek treatment for mental disorders, fearing it could harm their professional reputation.

Mental health tsar Louis Appleby said: "Many doctors find it difficult to admit that their work is stressful, that they have a drink or drug problem, or that they need help."

Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced a pilot scheme for London which would allow doctors and dentists to call a confidential helpline.

Mr Johnson said: "Like many large employers, the NHS is affected by sickness absence and lower productivity because of poor health. It would be a sad irony if we were to neglect the many doctors, nurses and other health professionals who do such outstanding work, often in the face of enormous pressure."

The investigation into the mental state of Britain's doctors was launched after Dr Daksha Emson, 34, stabbed herself and her three-month-old baby and set them both alight during a psychotic episode in 2000.

The inquiry into the deaths highlighted inadequacies in the way mental ill health in doctors is managed.

Dr Emson's husband, Dr David Emson, 47, told the Evening Standard: "This is like gold dust. I cannot express how happy I am that some good is going to come out of this tragedy. Daksha was a truly wonderful woman and pathologically humble. She would be embarrassed at the attention but she would be delighted they have not died in vain.

"It was such a tragic way to die. My raison d'etre now is to do everything I can to make sure something like this does not happen again."

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