Health Pulse Insights
Work comes up more than anything else in GP appointments about anxiety and depression
DocTap analysed 1,995 GP appointments about anxiety, depression or low mood in adults aged 25 to 64. Work was recorded as prompting or contributing in 39%, about twice as often as relationships or family, and far more often than money, housing or bereavement. In most appointments where work was a factor, the person was still working when they saw the GP, and in about a third they were finding it hard to cope at work.
Work was the most common thing GPs recorded as prompting or contributing to anxiety or low mood, according to DocTap's analysis of 1,995 GP appointments with adults aged 25 to 64 between June 2025 and September 2026. It came up in 39% of appointments, about twice as often as relationships or family (20%), and far more often than a physical health problem (7%), bereavement (6%) or money and housing (6%).
Work led in every age group, from 35% of appointments with 45 to 54-year-olds to 42% with 35 to 44-year-olds, and for both women (37%) and men (40%).
In most appointments where work was a factor, the person was still working when they saw the GP, and in 35% they were working but finding it hard to cope at work.
Key findings
The numbers at a glance
of appointments recorded work as prompting or contributing to anxiety or low mood.
of work-linked appointments involved someone working but finding it hard to cope at work.
of work-linked appointments recorded workload, long hours or burnout, the most common specific work issue.
Work was recorded about twice as often as relationships or family
Share of appointments for anxiety or low mood, adults aged 25 to 64, June 2025 to September 2026
Show the figures as a table
| What did the notes record as having prompted or contributed to the anxiety or low mood? | What did the notes record as having prompted or contributed to the anxiety or low mood? |
|---|---|
| Work or a job | 39% (770 of 1,995) |
| Relationships or family | 20% (399 of 1,995) |
| A physical health problem | 7% (147 of 1,995) |
| Bereavement or loss | 6% (128 of 1,995) |
| Money or housing | 6% (121 of 1,995) |
Source: DocTap GP consultation records. More than one thing could be recorded. Nothing was recorded as prompting or contributing in 30% of appointments. These are what GPs recorded, not established causes.
What about work
Workload and burnout came up most
Where work was a factor, workload, long hours or burnout came up most often, in 22% of appointments. Next came problems with a manager or colleagues (12%), returning to work after time off such as illness or parental leave (11%), and job insecurity, redundancy or restructuring (10%). A new job or promotion (8%) and a performance, disciplinary or grievance process (7%) were also recorded.
In many other appointments the notes linked work to how the person felt without naming one of these issues. These are what people described and GPs recorded, not findings about any employer or job.
Workload, long hours or burnout led the specific work issues recorded
Share of the 770 appointments where work was a factor. More than one issue could be recorded
Show the figures as a table
| If the notes link the anxiety or low mood to work, what about work did they record? | If the notes link the anxiety or low mood to work, what about work did they record? |
|---|---|
| Workload, long hours or burnout | 22% (171 of 770) |
| A manager or colleagues, including conflict or bullying | 12% (91 of 770) |
| Returning to work after time off, such as illness or parental leave | 11% (83 of 770) |
| Job insecurity, redundancy or restructuring | 10% (77 of 770) |
| A new job, promotion or more responsibility | 8% (60 of 770) |
| A performance, disciplinary or grievance process | 7% (55 of 770) |
| Changes to how or where they work, such as being asked back to the office | 3% (21 of 770) |
Source: DocTap GP consultation records. Shows the specific issues only. Appointments where work was mentioned without detail, or another work issue was recorded, are in the downloadable figures.
Still at work
Many were working but finding it hard to cope
In most appointments where work was a factor, the person was still working when they saw the GP. In 35% of these appointments the person was working but finding it hard to cope at work, and in 24% they were working with no difficulty at work recorded. In 20%, the person was already off work because of their health when they arrived.
Work status was not recorded in 14% of these appointments.
Most were still working when they saw the GP, and about a third were finding it hard to cope
Work at the time of the appointment, where work was recorded as prompting or contributing (770 appointments)
Show the figures as a table
| What did the notes record about the person's work at the time of this appointment? | What did the notes record about the person's work at the time of this appointment? |
|---|---|
| Working, and finding it hard to cope at work | 35% (268 of 770) |
| Working, with no difficulty at work recorded | 24% (182 of 770) |
| Off work because of their health | 20% (157 of 770) |
| Recently left or lost a job | 4% (30 of 770) |
| Not in paid work, such as studying, caring, retired or looking for work | 3% (25 of 770) |
| Not documented | 14% (108 of 770) |
Source: DocTap GP consultation records. Describes the person's situation when they arrived at the appointment. Off work includes any sickness absence before the appointment.
The national picture
Work-related mental health is a wider concern
In Great Britain in 2024/25, an estimated 964,000 workers reported stress, depression or anxiety caused or made worse by work, according to the Health and Safety Executive's annual workplace health and safety statistics. The HSE describes mental health conditions as the main driver of work-related ill health.
The national figures and these appointment records measure different things and are not directly comparable. People who see a private GP may be more likely to be in work, and these findings should not be treated as representative of all working-age adults or all workers.
“Still going to work doesn't necessarily mean someone is coping. We see patients who are managing heavy workloads, difficult relationships at work or worries about job security while also struggling with anxiety or low mood. Understanding what's happening at work can be an important part of their care, even when it isn't the only cause of how they're feeling.”
What this means for you
- If anxiety or low mood is affecting everyday life, talk to a GP. Mention sleep problems and physical symptoms as well as how you are feeling.
- If work feels linked with how you feel, tell the GP what has changed and what you are finding hard. You do not need to work out the cause before asking for help.
- If you are already being treated, use follow-up appointments to talk about how you are feeling, what is helping and any concerns about your treatment.
- According to the NHS, adults registered with a GP can refer themselves to NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression without speaking to a GP first.
For journalists
About this research
Who carried out this research?
DocTap, a UK private GP service, analysed its own anonymised GP appointment records. A DocTap GP reviewed the report before publication.
What was analysed?
1,995 GP appointments with adults aged 25 to 64 between June 2025 and September 2026 where anxiety, depression or low mood was the main concern. About two in three were follow-up reviews, mostly for people already being treated. Some people had more than one appointment, so the figures count appointments, not people. AI read the consultation notes, with patients' names and contact details removed, to identify what was recorded, with automated cross-checks and a second reading of a sample by a different AI model.
What does it mean that work came up?
That the patient described, and the GP recorded, work as prompting or contributing to their anxiety or low mood. It is not a finding that work caused it, and more than one thing could be recorded.
Why does the report cover ages 25 to 64?
To focus on working ages after most people have left education. Across all adults aged 18 and over, work was still the most common thing recorded, in about a third of appointments.
Does counting appointments rather than people change the result?
No. Some people had more than one appointment, so the figures count appointments. Counting each of the 1,053 people once, work was recorded for 48% at some appointment and 43% at their first appointment, still more than anything else; relationships or family were recorded for 31% and 26%.
How reliable is the AI reading?
A second AI model independently re-read a random sample of 149 appointments. The two readings agreed on whether work was recorded as prompting or contributing in 142 of them (95%), and on whether the person was working but finding it hard to cope at work in 140 (94%).
Is this representative of the UK?
No. These are appointments at a private GP service, not a sample of the population, and people who see a private GP may be more likely to be in work. The data is observational: it shows what GPs recorded, not what causes anxiety or depression.
Can I use these figures?
Yes. Please credit DocTap and link to this page. The full figures are available to download below.
How we did this
Which appointments. We started from the 1,995 DocTap GP appointments between June 2025 and September 2026 where the main reason for the visit was recorded as anxiety or depression & low mood, raised as a new concern or reviewed at a follow-up, for adults aged 25 to 64 recorded as male or female. Reading their notes, we kept the 1,995 where the answer to "Did this appointment address the patient's anxiety, depression or low mood?" was yes. Figures count appointments, not people in the wider population.
How we analysed them. We analysed 1,995 GP consultation records, using AI to read the doctors' notes with automated cross-checks; test results and prescriptions come directly from our clinical records.
Limits. People who book a private GP are not a cross-section of the UK, and notes record what came up in the appointment, not everything about a person. Where a group has fewer than 20 people, we show the count rather than a percentage. To protect privacy, we don't publish a count of 1 to 4 people, or the size of a group of 1 to 4: these read "fewer than 5".
Using these figures
Media enquiries and questions about these figures: press@doctap.co.uk. Please credit DocTap and link to this report when reusing these figures.