MPs who have mental health problems are left to suffer in silence because of an absence of proper support services and a lack of trust in party whips, a major report to be published in the British Medical Journal will say this week.

The study carried out by researchers at the institute of psychiatry, part of King’s College London, is expected to find that MPs often feel they have no one to turn to if they struggle with mental health issues, because parliament lags behind most modern workplaces in the services it offers.

The report is the result of the first formal research project into the mental health and wellbeing of MPs. One of those involved was the Conservative MP Dr Dan Poulter, who is also an NHS psychiatrist.

Many MPs have spoken publicly about the pressure and anxieties that can arise from serving both constituents and their party on difficult and divisive issues such as Brexit, while being constantly in the public eye.

The report is expected to raise a number of issues about MPs’ lack of awareness about the support services that are available to them and that have been introduced over recent years – and the practical problems they face in a workplace run on often archaic rules and traditions.

In particular, it is expected to raise concerns that they do not feel able to discuss their mental health and wellbeing with party whips, whose key role is as enforcers of party discipline. If an MP wants to be absent from a vote because of health or other issues, he or she would have to inform the whips of the reasons.

The whip also keeps files on each MP about their loyalty and voting record which are used to judge who is thought suitable for promotion when ministerial or shadow ministerial reshuffles occur.

The researchers conducted questionnaires with MPs of all parties and found that many believed that the lack of adequate services often prevented them doing their job as well as they should.

The report is likely to raise new concerns about the outdated workings of parliament, following recent scandals over sexual harassment of parliamentary staff, which led to urgent investigations and changes in complaints procedures.

Speaking in 2012 in a debate on mental health, several MPs gave emotional accounts of their own experiences.

Former Labour minister Kevan Jones told colleagues: “Like a lot of men, you try and deal with it yourself. You don’t talk to people. First of all it creeps up on you very slowly.

“I think in politics we are designed to think somehow that if you admit fault or frailty you are going to be looked on in a disparaging way both by the electorate but also by your peers as well.

“We have got to talk about mental health in this house. Actually admitting that sometimes you need help is not a sign of weakness.”

Both Andrea Leadsom, the Conservative former leader of the house, and the former Tory MP Sarah Wollaston, who now sits as an independent, have also spoken of suffering depression.