British men are making themselves ill by overworking and more than one in three relies on alcohol to switch off from job stress, according to a survey, which also finds that 17% have visited a doctor to discuss their exhaustion.

The problem is most severe in the legal profession, where 38% of men say they suffer from extreme stress levels. Banking, medicine and education also emerged as particularly stressful occupations. Overall more than a quarter of men suffer with exhaustion through stress.

Perhaps more surprisingly men earning their living from sport and recreation are more likely than average to say the pressure is too great.

Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University, said the high stress levels were caused by long working hours and poor management. "People in the UK have the longest working hours in Europe. Employees are more autocratically managed and are intrinsically more insecure. These changing patterns of work seem to be having a negative effect on men's health. It isn't just men working in the private sector ... the survey shows men in the public sector are also suffering."

The results came from a survey of more than 2,000 men commissioned by the makers of Wellman, a formulation of vitamin supplements designed for men. It did not investigate overwork among women. The survey found 40% of men had difficulty switching off from work, and 22% said they suffered from depression because of job-related stress.

One in five admitted to having aggressive outbursts, 15% experienced a lowered sex drive, and 5% suffered sexual impotence that could be related to stress.

Prof Cooper said: "Employers need to end the long hours culture, begin to manage people by reward and praise and not be constantly fault finding. They need to provide some degree of job security and ensure that men and women get a good work-life balance. If they fail, not only will health ... be adversely affected, but so will our national productivity."

The survey also found more than one in 10 men saying they experienced palpitations from stress. And 35% suffered from sleeping difficulties that they linked to pressures of work.

A report on the figures included a warning from Rob Hicks, a GP, who said many men failed to make the link between physical symptoms and workplace stress. "They often just keep worrying about the symptoms they are experiencing, but don't do anything about them."

The poll found the men most likely to consult a doctor because of stress worked in legal services, the public sector, banking, manufacturing and IT. Men who found it most difficult to switch off from work had careers in property, with 52% saying it was hard to stop thinking about the job; other sectors where this problem was most acute included education (46%), arts and entertainment (41.9%) and charities (41.7%). Men in manufacturing were most dissatisfied with their job security. Those in the medical profession were most likely to feel their achievements were rarely or never recognised.

The survey of 2,233 men over the age of 18 was conducted by the pollsters Experian last month.