NursingLink

Hundreds of Surgeons Commit Suicide Each Year

Virginian Pilot May 11 2008 by Lindsey Tanner/Associated Press Chicago - There's a grim, rarely talked about twist to all that medical know-how doctors learn to save lives. It makes them especially good at ending their own. An estimated 300-400 US doctors kill themselves each year, a suicide rate thought to be higher than in the general population, although exact figures are hard to come by. Some doctors believe the stigma of mental illness is magnified in a profession that prides itself on stoicism and bravado. Many fear that admitting psychiatric problems could be fatal to their careers, so they suffer in silence. And when the pain is too much, doctors have easy access to prescription drugs and a precise knowledge of both how the body works and how much of a drug is needed for an overdose to stop breathing and halt the heart. The AMA has called physician suicides "an epidemic catastrophe" and pledged two years ago to work to prevent the problem. But the suicides have persisted. So the American Foundation for Suidide Prevention has launched an educational campaign in hopes of making troubled doctors more willing to seek help. The American College of Psychiatrists and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a maker of antidepressants, paid for the program. It includes a documentary titled"Struggling in Silence" that begins airing on public TV this week. The suicide rates are equal for men and women in doctors. A 28-state study from 1984-95 found that women doctors were more than twice as likely as women in the general population to kill themselves. Men were more than 70% more likely inside the medical profession than in overall population. One explanation is that most suicide attempts in the broader population are unsucessful, while doctors know how to sucessfully commit suicide said Dr. Erika Frank. Depression is often the reason. Depressed doctors frequently decide to self-medicate but don't seek psychotherapy that could help them deal with underlying issues.Some studies have suggested that depression is more common among doctors, especially women physicians, and that the high demands of a job dealing with life-and-death issues makes them more prone. A study in Denmark, published last year, found more suicides in doctors than among more than 20 other professions including nurses, factory workers, corporate managers and architects. "We have to stop the hiding and the ignorance and recognize it as a disease like high blood pressure or diabetes".

---