Suicide Risk in Physicians

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joseph h. -

Great discussion! I may have misheard as I biked to work. Did you say 121 MD suicides each day?
that would mean 44,154 suicides/year, which is a lot!
I researched this, the figure I found was 300-400/year:
An estimated 300–400 physicians die by suicide in the U.S. per year:
Confronting Depression and Suicide in PhysiciansA Consensus Statement
Claudia Center, JD; Miriam Davis, PhD; Thomas Detre, MD; et al Daniel E. Ford, MD, MPH; Wendy Hansbrough, BSN; Herbert Hendin, MD; John Laszlo, MD; David A. Litts, OD; John Mann, MD; Peter A. Mansky, MD; Robert Michels, MD; Steven H. Miles, MD; Roy Proujansky, MD; Charles F. Reynolds III, MD; Morton M. Silverman, MD
Author Affiliations
JAMA. 2003;289(23):3161-3166. doi:10.1001/jama.289.23.3161

Cheers,
Joe Howton MD, FAAEM, FACEP

Mel H. -

Joseph h. that was total suicide deaths in the US not physician...we should have made that clearer.

Tim V. -

Hey Mel,

Great post, thanks for approaching this issue.

Have you considered an EMRap support group? Anonymous or non-anonymous posts from members who can then support each other with replies. In Canada, the Canadian Physician Moms Group (Facebook) has 6,000+ members (out of 77,000 physicians in Canada) where people can post about anything but there are A LOT of mental health posts with accompanying support.

Mel H. -

@Tim V - yes we have and are considering a support group and some technologies around that where people could "CHAT" with colleges in a safe and secure environment not just about this issue but medicine in general

Aaron -

Amidst the victim-blaming and system excuses and learned helplessness, Mel provides the only solid advice: if you need a therapist, leave town, use a fake name, and pay cash.

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Suicide Risk in Physicians Full episode audio for MD edition 26:03 min - 22 MB - M4A