Please confirm that you would like to log out of Medscape.
If you log out, you will be required to enter your username and password the next time you visit.
Log outCancel
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023
| Contributor Information
Swipe to advance
1 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
Approximately 1 in 8 male family physicians have thought about or tried taking their own lives, and so have around 1 in 10 of their female counterparts.
2 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
3 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
Looking at the bigger picture in the medical profession, 1% of physicians said that they had attempted suicide and 9% acknowledged contemplating it.
Physicians in general significantly more often report suicidal thoughts or attempt suicide than the average for US adults (4.9% and 0.5%, respectively), according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
The combination of high rate of suicidal thoughts and knowledge of lethal means among physicians concerns Peter Yellowlees, MBBS, MD, CEO of the mental health platform Async Health. "In this context, [the percentages shown above] are worryingly high numbers and markers we should be concerned about," he says.
4 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
Compare those results with physicians overall: Men and women said that they contemplated or attempted suicide or, alternatively, that they never considered it at fairly similar rates.
In the general US population, studies show that "females are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than males are," warns Perry Lin, MD, national co-chair of the American Association of Suicidology's Physician Suicide Awareness Committee and an assistant clinical professor of osteopathic medicine at Ohio University.
5 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
Among family physicians, millennials (ages 27-41 years) were more likely than were either Gen Xers (ages 42-56 years) or boomers (ages 57-65 years) to have thought about suicide without trying.
In the broader American population, older people, especially men aged 45 years or older, typically deal with higher suicide rates, notes Michael F. Myers, MD, professor of clinical psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, New York.
"Admitting to having felt suicidal but not attempted suicide does speak to how stressed a certain cohort of today's doctors are," he says. "The fact that only a small percentage of these individuals went on to attempt suicide is a good sign that they perhaps shared this with a trusted colleague, friend, or family member or sought professional help.
"It might also mean that disclosing [a suicide attempt] is less stigma-tainted than it used to be, that individuals understand this as part of a serious mental health issue and not a sign of weakness."
6 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
From year to year in our past few reports, the specialties with the highest rates of doctors saying that they had suicidal thoughts tend to be very different. Family physicians were near the top of specialties this year.
7 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
In recent years, physicians overall have shown themselves slightly more likely to bring ideas about suicide to a therapist and slightly less likely to confide in none of the people listed above.
"It's pleasing that physicians are more prepared to see a therapist and less likely to keep their distress entirely to themselves," Yellowlees says.
"It's possible that the need for mental healthcare is become less stigmatized nationally, with the large and increasing emphasis on physician well-being during and after [the] COVID-19" pandemic.
8 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
9 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
Compare family physicians with physicians overall (among whom, 9% of men and 11% of women said that a colleague had shared their contemplation of suicide).
How well doctors listen during these conversation matters, for the colleague's sake and because potential impacts of colleague suicide on co-workers has not been widely researched, according to an analysis in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
10 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
Among physicians across all specialties, 79% of respondents said that they had a talk with the struggling colleague, 78% recommended that physician seek professional help, and 17% spoke with a colleague's family member.
Respondents described arranging psychiatrist visits for a colleague ("I demanded and ensured they received help"), accompanying someone to the emergency department, and helping a co-worker arrange a leave of absence and inpatient treatment.
"I am a psychiatrist and treat more than 30 doctors," one respondent said.
11 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
Myers finds the idea of an institution bearing the ultimate responsibility bothersome and simplistic. "Most suicides are multifactorial, many stressors coming together all at once in a person's life, a so-called "a perfect storm," he notes. "When and if it appears that a vulnerable medical student or physician was very poorly treated by their medical school or healthcare organization, then yes, we might conclude that this was one of the drivers of their suicide.
"But there are suicides each year involving medical students and physicians that have nothing to do with the medical school or place of work."
12 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
As with physicians overall, family physicians turned to healthy behaviors like exercise; hobbies and personal interests; and more time with family and friends at strong rates, which could bode well for addressing suicide in the profession.
13 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
Doctors can turn to several physician-specific or general suicide phone or text help lines. The organizations listed above also can provide a variety of prevention and support resources. Yet another organization, the American Association of Suicidology, has a special committee generating awareness of suicide issues among doctors.
14 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
15 of 16
Scroll
Doctors' Burden: Family Physician Suicide Report 2023
Jon McKenna | March 31, 2023 | Contributor Information
For some physicians, the stress of practicing medicine has become so unbearable that they contemplate or attempt suicide. Others have found ways to support their mental health.Medscape Features Slideshow, Mar 2023
Commenting is limited to medical professionals. To comment please Log-in.
Comments on Medscape are moderated and should be professional in tone and on topic. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. Please see our Commenting Guide for further information. We reserve the right to remove posts at our sole discretion.
Comments on Medscape are moderated and should be professional in tone and on topic. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. Please see our Commenting Guide for further information. We reserve the right to remove posts at our sole discretion.
Close
Contributor Information
Jon McKenna
Senior Editor, Reports
Medscape Business of Medicine
Close
References
Close
Image Zoom
Close
Feedback
Please do not use this form to submit personal or patient medical information or to report adverse drug events. You are encouraged to report adverse drug event information to the FDA.
Comments