Doctors in Leeds took the equivalent of more than five years off due to stress in 2018.
Data released by NHS Digital reveals that doctors working at the city's hospitals were off work for a total of 2,072 days due to stress-related absences between January and November last year.
The number is already 3 per cent higher than the 2,003 days lost in the whole of 2017.
The figures include absences for anxiety, stress, depression, as well as other mental health conditions. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust saw the highest number of days lost - 1,465.
That’s the equivalent of more than four years, and is up from the 1,292 days lost in 2017.
On the other hand, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust saw the lowest number with 200 stress-related days off, down from 226 the year before.
Doctors in England lost the equivalent of 290 years lost due to stress in January to November 2018, or 105,963 days.
This compares to 99,566 for the whole of 2017, and was the highest number recorded since at least 2012, when there were 78,236 days lost, the equivalent of 214 years.
Increased number of Leeds children hospitalised due to their mental health
In 2011, a report in the British Medical Journal found a third of doctors suffers from mental health disorders.
As well as this, a Royal College of Physicians’ survey of junior doctors in 2017 found that 70 per cent worked on a rota that was permanently under-staffed, 80 per cent felt their work put them under excessive stress, and a quarter felt it had a serious impact on their mental health.
'We need to tackle the underlying causes'
BMA council chair, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said: “As alarming as these figures are, they are unfortunately not surprising considering the enormous pressure that many doctors are currently under.
“This was exemplified recent survey from the BMA looking at the mental health of doctors found that a worrying eight in 10 were at high risk of burnout and significant number had a mental health condition, linked to the stress of working in the NHS.
“We already have significant staff shortages in the health service and absenteeism places even more pressure on staff to increase their workload to keep up with demand, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle.
“We need to tackle the underlying causes which are forcing people to take out of the profession by increasing investment and resources as well as ensuring that support is at hand for those staff who have unfortunately reached this crisis point.”
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