News
Recently, there have been several news stories about physicians committing suicide. This is across all levels of the profession, including medical students, residents, and attendings.
Historically, doctors have had a higher rate of suicide than most professions. I’m not sure if that number has crept up recently, or if events are garnering more attention than before. They’re certainly mentioned prominently on various medical blogs.
Why do you see this in medicine? There are probably a number of factors that overlap:
• A high pressure job, where mistakes aren’t allowed (which isn’t humanly possible).
• A culture of litigation, where even minor mistakes are taken to court.
• Declining financial reimbursement, making it harder to support a practice and family, especially when you’re already six figures in debt coming out of medical school.
• Pressure to work longer hours and see far more patients than is possible, which increases the potential for mistakes. This further reduces the amount of family and recreational time available to balance ourselves.
• An increase in “empowered patients” demanding unnecessary tests and treatments because it said so on the Internet.
• A general lack of respect for the profession, to where we’re now “providers” who are vilified for political reasons by insurance companies, consumer groups, and both major parties.
• The need for us not to admit or seek treatment for human vulnerabilities. Our own health (mental and physical) is neglected because we can’t take time off to address it and a fear that doing so may result in us having our licenses penalized.
Any of the above makes life unpleasant, but when you combine them … it can be a perfect storm that tips a person over the edge.
In medicine, seeking help is often seen as a weakness, and even the most rational person under difficult circumstances can snap. None of the physicians who’ve ended their lives started out saying that was how they wanted their medical career to wind up. But when stressors pile up, it may appear to them to be the only way out. In that frame of mind, you think doing something so drastic is better for everyone around you. It isn’t true, but at that point you don’t believe it.
A physician’s suicide, even outside of its effects on their family, is a loss. A physician is a community resource, leaving behind relationships with patients in various stages of work-ups and treatments. There’s always another doctor, but it’s not easy, or immediate, to find someone who’s a good fit for the area.
I don’t know if this is a peculiarly American phenomenon or if my colleagues in Canada, Europe, and elsewhere face similar challenges. If the suicide rate elsewhere is lower, what can we learn from them to make things better here? If it’s the same, what can we do collectively to find an answer? Every country needs doctors and can’t afford to lose them.
Is there an easy solution? Probably not. Too many factors to fix. But it’s a serious problem and needs attention.
Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.