Don’t wait until you SNAP!

Occupational stress among dental practitioners is a growing issue. We look at the causes, concerns and reveal what the DHAA are doing to help

By Roisin McGrath

The prevalence of anxiety disorders in Australia

Mental health problems and mental illnesses are very common. In fact, it is estimated that half of all Australians will experience a mental illness during their lifetime, and that one in five adults aged 16-85 years old have had a common mental disorder (i.e. anxiety disorders, mood disorders and substance-use disorders) during the past 12-months (AIHW 2019).

Of these common mental illnesses, anxiety disorders are the most prevalent afflicting 14.4% of Australian adults. Having an anxiety disorder is more than feeling a bit stressed or worried. For most people, when a ‘stressor’ is removed the feelings of stress or anxiety will go away. However, for people with anxiety disorders, these feelings do not pass and often come on without any apparent cause (Beyond Blue).

Despite the fact that effective support services and treatments are available, the majority of people living with an anxiety disorder are not getting any professional help.

One of the major barriers to people accessing mental health care is the continued stigma associated with being ‘labelled’ as having a mental illness. I’m sure you’ll all agree that it’s time that we were able to talk openly and honestly about the causes and consequences of mental illness, to create an environment where those experiencing anxiety disorders are more likely to seek early support and care.

Is stress and anxiety a problem in our profession?

Stressful life experiences increase the risk of developing an anxiety disorder or can make an existing anxiety disorder worse (SANE Australia).

Evidence suggests that occupational stress is prevalent among dental hygienists and is an important cause of burnout and attrition from the profession (Sanders & Turcott 2010, Gorter 2005, Lopresti 2014, Parlette et al. 2018). Dental practitioners experience high rates of musculoskeletal problems associated with clinical practice, which can cause physical and emotional stress (Moodley et al. 2018). Non-physical occupational stressors frequently experienced include factors such as ‘emotional labour’, time constraints and running late, patient-related factors, personality traits (e.g. perfectionism, conscientiousness, caring nature) and organisational or practice issues (e.g. relationships with employers, heavy workload).

“It’s time that we were able to talk openly and honestly about the causes and consequences of mental illness”

On the other hand, studies have also shown that, for some dental practitioners, stress can actually be performance enhancing and impact positively on their psychological wellbeing (Crum et al. 2013, Harris et al. 2017).

It is apparent that how we perceive and react to stressful situations influences the level of impact they have on us. Stress management techniques are therefore important in maintaining our mental health and wellbeing and can play a pivotal role in ensuring longevity in our clinical careers. Protective factors vary between individuals but include things like a ‘sense of coherence’, good time management, control over one’s work environment, setting realistic career goals, support from peers, effective self-care practices and healthy lifestyles (Lopresti 2014, Gorter 2005, Gambetta-Tessini et al. 2016).

What causes stress in one person may not cause stress in another. So, self-awareness is necessary to identify and monitor our own personal and professional stressors and to assist us in developing appropriate coping strategies. We can use stress management approaches to change the way we perceive stress, change the way we react to stress and change our lifestyles to promote better health and wellbeing (Lopresti 2014).

What did you tell us about work-related stress?

Late last year, I hosted a DHAA webinar on mental health. Prior to the webinar, we conducted a survey of members asking them about factors at work that cause them stress. Although the purpose of this survey was to collect data for use in the webinar, the results were so valuable and insightful that we thought it was important to share them with you in The Bulletin.

Just over half (54.9%) of those who responded were dental hygienists and another two-fifths (41.18%) were oral health therapists. The vast majority (86.7%) of members who responded currently work in the private sector.

Our survey results suggest that time pressure causes the greatest impact, with two-thirds (66.7%) saying it is ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ important in causing you stress.

We know that musculoskeletal conditions are common in dental practitioners, so it was not surprising to find that musculoskeletal problems are a major issue for about 60% of you. You also told us that patient-related factors are ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ likely to cause you stress at work; in fact, hardly any of you (2%) said that working with patients did not cause you stress at all.

“As your professional organisation we (the DHAA) want to do more to support you during these challenges”

Remuneration is one of those topics that surfaces regularly, but we did not expect to find that salary issues are such a significant contributor to your stress levels. You can see the results for the rest of the stressor questions in Table 1.

We also asked what support strategies you use to help mitigate your occupational stress (Table 2). It was great to note that such a large proportion of you focus on healthy eating and getting enough exercise and rest/sleep when you are experiencing stressful periods.

Other strategies that can also help but were less commonly practiced include things like meditation and mindfulness.

Just over half (52.94%) said they never use professional support services; this may be because the other strategies they use are sufficient to alleviate their stress. However, it is also possible that our members are experiencing barriers to accessing professional supports (e.g. cost, stigma, lack of available services, time etc.)

What is the DHAA doing to support members experiencing occupational stress?

At the DHAA, we recognise the negative impact that employment issues can have on our members’ mental health and wellbeing.

As your professional organisation we want to do more to support you during these challenges, not only by providing industrial relations advice – so many members have already benefited from the services of the fantastic Katrina Murphy; but also through the development of a new ‘peer support service’ to assist when a member receives a complaint or has an investigation launched against them.

We look forward to telling you more about this exciting new member service proposal soon.