{"id":424,"date":"2021-09-16T22:27:01","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T22:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/?p=424"},"modified":"2022-12-26T15:06:13","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T15:06:13","slug":"when-those-who-help-need-help-national-physician-suicide-awareness-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/2021\/09\/16\/when-those-who-help-need-help-national-physician-suicide-awareness-day\/","title":{"rendered":"When Those Who Help Need Help: National Physician Suicide Awareness Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When I was in medical school, two of my fellow students died \u2013 one by suicide and one from an alcohol use disorder. A third student survived a suicide attempt. At that time, I had not yet become a psychiatrist, and I shared the common misperception of suicide as a largely unpreventable tragedy. In our grief, my classmates and I did not connect these deaths with the pressures inherent in our career path.<\/p>\n

Even as we mourned the loss of our individual friends and colleagues, we didn\u2019t recognize the systemic factors that may have contributed to their deaths. Today, our profession recognizes National Physician Suicide Awareness Day. This solemn occasion reflects how cultural awareness and the scientific understanding of suicide and its risk factors have evolved since my time as a medical student.<\/p>\n

Movies and television often romanticize doctors as stoic heroes, calmly solving one crisis after another. In reality, research shows they are just as vulnerable to professional and personal pressures as everyone else. In fact, physicians die by suicide at a higher rate<\/a> than the general population, and female physicians<\/a> face an even higher risk than their male counterparts. This elevated risk begins early in a doctor\u2019s career: during the first year in medical school.<\/p>\n

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Physicians die by suicide at a higher rate than the general population, and COVID-19 has further elevated depression, burnout and suicidal thoughts among medical professionals. Lowering this risk will require sweeping action.<\/em>
Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n

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The stress of the COVID-19 pandemic has further elevated depression, burnout and suicidal thoughts among physicians, with one hospital in New York finding that 6.6% of physicians surveyed had suicidal thoughts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What Are the Risk Factors for Physician Suicide?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Several factors help explain why so many medical students and physicians die by suicide:<\/p>\n