Psychiatry and rural general practitioners: Keeping patients and doctors healthy

Abstract

There are a variety of challenges facing general practitioners who care for people with mental-health problems. In rural areas, GPs are the first point of contact for any and every medical problem, whether acute, severe, mild or trivial. From amongst this varied group of patients, the rural GP must be able to quickly differentiate those with a mental-health problem, as often the diagnosis may be masked.