Insomnia can be caused by multiple factors and may require a longer appointment, but family doctors don’t always have the time. If the issue is not addressed, overreliance on sleep aids can lead to patient dependency and poor sleep can lead to substance use, as well as decreased productivity and mood.

Legalized cannabis and the marketing of its products has led to patients experiencing an increased dependency on cannabis to manage pain and anxiety. Family doctors don’t always know when cannabis is indicated and the messaging available may come from sources with a conflict of interest.

There are few treatment options for patients with personality disorders and these patients can pose a challenge for doctors and clinic staff, leading to burnout.

It can be difficult to pinpoint the cause of a non-migraine headache and symptoms can be vague. If left untreated, headaches can lead to poor mood, sleep and a reduced quality of life.

The increased administrative burden on family doctors, along with a rise in complex patient cases, have led to extended work hours, leading to burnout within family medicine.

It is often difficult to help patients wean off benzodiazepines (benzos), especially if the patient has been using this medication for a long time and alternative treatments do not work as well for them.

There is a large differential for chronic pain and it can be difficult to address. Some patients with chronic pain take high amounts of opioids, leading to discomfort with continuing the prescription.

Patients with anxiety can often overuse health-care resources by presenting multiple health concerns to their physician. Family doctors can face difficulty if the cause of a patient’s concern is anxiety.

Harmful use of alcohol contributed to 17,000 deaths in Canada in 2020, with an estimated $6.3 billion spent that year on healthcare cost related to alcohol use.

Rising rates of obesity and diabetes, drug shortages, patient demand and societal discussions around fat-shaming, have placed family physicians in a difficult position, at times acting as gatekeepers for medications, determining which patients should gain access to GLP-1 agonists.

In Canada, one in 300 people ages 15 and older are transgender or non-binary, meaning that most family doctors care for gender non-conforming people in their practice.

Family physicians are often seen as the safety net for the entire health care system. Family doctors frequently face pressures from hospitals, specialists, families, and patients to fill the endless gaps in health care.