The mental health toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on doctors practicing pulmonary medicine is mapped out in the MedScape 2021 Physician Lifestyle and Happiness Report.

Less than half — 47 percent — of pulmonologists report being happy outside of work now compared with 82 percent before the pandemic, the report says. Along with pulmonologists, fewer than half of infectious disease physicians, intensivists, and rheumatologists reported being happy outside of work at the time the survey was published.

In addition, the percentage of pulmonologists who say they are burned out or both burned out and depressed ticked up slightly — 48 percent, compared with 41 percent last year.

Burnout has long been a mental health issue for physicians. The American Medical Association reported a 50 percent burnout rate among all physicians from 2012 to 2017.

But, the long hours and stressful work conditions created by the global pandemic have only magnified the problems for pulmonologists, according to the latest MedScape report. That stress has inspired a variety of programs to help physicians cope with burnout.

Burnout by the Numbers

Approximately 12,000 physicians from more than 29 specialties responded to the MedScape survey last year. Results were published in February.

This year, more than half of pulmonologists surveyed are worried about work-life balance. About that same percentage would take a salary reduction to have better work-life balance, the report says.

In addition, 79 percent of pulmonologists surveyed reported some degree of anxiety about their future, given COVID-19. That percentage is similar to the 77 percent reported by physicians overall.

While some pulmonologists have sought professional help to cope with burnout or depression, 51 percent of pulmonologists surveyed reported being too busy to seek help.

Six percent of those pulmonologists experiencing burnout say they are considering leaving medicine altogether.

Ways to Cope

Burnout was affecting pulmonologists even before the pandemic, according to the survey. Three out of four of those who responded to the survey (76 percent) said their burnout started before the pandemic, with the remaining 24 percent saying it started afterward.

The biggest drivers of burnout currently include spending too much time on bureaucratic demands, insufficient reimbursement and long workdays.

Top reported methods for dealing with burnout include exercise, sleep and playing or listening to music. Some pulmonologists, however, also said they turn to junk food, isolation or binge-eating to cope with work pressures.

Self-care, time away from work, team building, mentorships, creating well-being programs and peer-to-peer support groups are among the recommended ways to prevent physician burnout, by the American Medical Association, Johns Hopkins Medicine and TEAMHealth.

Additional burnout resources include:

•  “A New BOS: Burnout Syndrome in Lung Transplant Physicians,” in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation
•  “Provider Burnout and Fatigue During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned From a High-Volume Intensive Care Unit,” in Anesth Analg Journal
• “Burnout/Depression: Half of Pulmonology Trainees Report Symptoms,”  published in CHEST Physician.