Health Professional Wellbeing

Confronting Physician depression and suicide

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention planning group invited 15 experts with expertise in physician health, medical education, licensing and credentialing issues, public health, disability law, substance abuse, depression, and suicidology to evaluate the state of knowledge about physician depression and suicide and barriers to treatment. The consensus statement articulated the following common concerns.

Current State

Depression is as common in physicians as in the general population however they are higher in medical students and residents. In physicians the female rate of suicide is higher than in the general population.

Risks

90% of physicians who die by suicide have a mental disorders and/or a substance abuse disorder

Many have untreated mood disorders and there is an increased burden of suicide.

Barriers

Physician reluctance to admit health vulnerabilities or seek help.

Practicing physicians with psychiatric disorders often encounter overt or covert discrimination.

Recommendations

Physicians should establish a regular source of health care and seek help for mood disorders.

Provide information about state and federal protections for confidentiality of medical records and legal protections for physicians and others with disabilities.

New research is needed. Most of the literature is out dated and contains significant methodological problems.

Comment

It is clear physicians often neglect their own mental health and this appears to contribute to reduced recognition of the significance of mental illness in their patients.  Depression is among the most common condition in primary care patients. And physicians do not adequately detect or treat 40% to 60% of cases. Physicians are more likely to recognize and treat depression and suicide in patients if they are able to first confront it within themselves and their peers. This consensus statement suggests it is high time to transform professional attitudes and change institutional policies to encourage physicians to seek help.

Writer Kabir Sattarshetty, Masters Student

Supervisor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

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