Dentists have high rate of suicide???

[lee0539]

I heard dentists have a high rate of suicide compared to other professions... or compared to other professions in health. If this is the case is there a reason for this?

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[grant555]

You can google that exact statement and get tons of information. Some reports will support it while others will submit that dentists don't have any higher rate of suicide than any other professional. This is a dicey area that in my opinion has more to do with the individual than the profession. Really, I can't understand why anyone in the top 5% of salaries in the richest country in the world would want to end their lives, but money doesn't bring happiness, nor should a career in dentistry automatically create higher tendencies for misery. If you feel like killing yourself, say a prayer and thank GOD you are not wandering the streets with no education, no sustainable source of income, and marginal hope for a life any less ordinary. Simply put, some people don't know when they are blessed. Take care and GOD bless.

 

[PantherPaws]

Why do people keep posting this bull****???? You really think working 4 days a week, making 6 figures, and getting off at 4 or 5 everyday to go home and spend time with your families will make someone commit suicide...PLEASE....Highest suicide rate...gotta be physicians....on call all the time....tragic work weeks....

please stop posting garbage like this!

Panther

 

[dinesh]

Apparently all the Mercury they get exposed too
Bull**** if you ask me.

I actually had one of my high school teachers joking with me a day during class telling me that dentists have the highest suicide percentage.

 

[ajmacgregor]

I heard dentists have a high rate of suicide compared to other professions...

This is true. I actually committed suicide yesterday and am posting from the Beyond...

It's pretty nice here. There's a shortage of chairs.

 

[etan4]

Even if it was true that dentists have the highest rate of suicide, this fact alone isn't sufficient to paint a full picture - how far behind is the rate of suicide for the profession in 2nd place? Only if the gap is substantial can we truly extract from the statement "dentists have the highest rate of suicide" the assumption that dentists live a far more miserable life than other health professions.

 

[DrJeff]

The real reason is that with how little we have to work, and how much money we make, we drive ourselves crazy figuring out what to do with all our disposable income and free time

Case in point, today as I was playing my 35th hole of golf for the day ( a 215 yard par 3 over water into about a 10 MPH wind), I was really mad at myself for not buying a new 5 wood in the pro shop after my first 18 since my 2 iron wasn't enough club (can you say SPLASH) and my 4 wood is too much club. It's stress like this that just about made we want to beat myself over the head with said 2 iron and end it all

 

[DrTacoElf]

My speculation if it is at all true would be failed business ventures since most dentists are highly trained in the sciences but not business.

 

[drhobie7]

This is urban myth. I read the source of this false statistic was a mathematical error in the original calculation. By the time it was discovered the information had already been disseminated. The rate of suicide is comparable to physicians, which is higher than average.

 

[aggie-master]

The real reason is that with how little we have to work, and how much money we make, we drive ourselves crazy figuring out what to do with all our disposable income and free time

Case in point, today as I was playing my 35th hole of golf for the day ( a 215 yard par 3 over water into about a 10 MPH wind), I was really mad at myself for not buying a new 5 wood in the pro shop after my first 18 since my 2 iron wasn't enough club (can you say SPLASH) and my 4 wood is too much club. It's stress like this that just about made we want to beat myself over the head with said 2 iron and end it all

I need a job like yours.

Between working more than 40 hours a week and taking prereqs and applying for dental school, I don't have time to play 35 holes of golf.

 

[aphistis]

My speculation if it is at all true would be failed business ventures since most dentists are highly trained in the sciences but not business.

But it's not, so the whole question is moot to begin with.

 

[UTDental]

A practice consultant recently told our class that only 0.04% of dental practices fail. Who is perpetuating this suicide myth? Is it other health professionals that are jealous of how good dentists have it? If people don't want to become dentists because they're afraid they may become suicidal, well more patients for me then.

 

[rahmed]

A practice consultant recently told our class that only 0.04% of dental practices fail. Who is perpetuating this suicide myth?...........

Must be those 0.04%.....or too much money, too much time at hand, watching too much poverty in far off countries, too much to bear with this good life, can't take it anymore, let me die.....nah it's not no making any sense.....it's all a big, fat lie......

 

[Dental Mom]

You can google that exact statement and get tons of information. Some reports will support it while others will submit that dentists don't have any higher rate of suicide than any other professional. This is a dicey area that in my opinion has more to do with the individual than the profession. Really, I can't understand why anyone in the top 5% of salaries in the richest country in the world would want to end their lives, but money doesn't bring happiness, nor should a career in dentistry automatically create higher tendencies for misery. If you feel like killing yourself, say a prayer and thank GOD you are not wandering the streets with no education, no sustainable source of income, and marginal hope for a life any less ordinary. Simply put, some people don't know when they are blessed. Take care and GOD bless.

Grant, most people that comit suicide is because they are depressed. Not matter how much money and love they have....is not becuase they don't see how blessed they are It's a true mental desease that makes you blind and you can't see how wonderful you are and how much life is around you....

I have lost few friends.....

 

[Dental Mom]

I heard dentists have a high rate of suicide compared to other professions... or compared to other professions in health. If this is the case is there a reason for this?

I have heard this before.....but the proffession that has the highest rate is the tower control people at the airports. Those guys have it rough. One tiny mistake & planes full of people go down!

I saw a 1 hr special on discovery health few yrs ago....

I don't think is the proffession...is the people...just like we mom get the blues after having a baby. Some get it some don't at all....

 

[plaque]

Dentists don't have the highest suicide rate, toll booth workers do. Dentists have the second highest.

 

[airvent]

You would think that those poor workers who pick the meat out of crabs for a living would be suicidal

 

[dWiz]

i am just wondering why do people correlate suicide tendencies with the type of work one does? is that the determining factor: your job? aren't there other things in life that can cause you to "jump"

 

[ISU_Steve]

I think I've said it before that a more accurate measure of suicidal tendencies would be the attempt rate per a given population (x /1,000 people or something along those lines where x = number of people who have attempted suicide). The attempt rate would be far more accurate at detecting the suicidal tendencies of a given population (people in a given occupation for instance), than just going off the success rate, because people in the medical fields and law enforcement, etc would seem to be more likely to succeed on their first try because of the methods they are likely to use (a medical professional would know what dosage of drugs or where to shoot oneself).

But I still think the rumor about dentists having an even higher than normal suicide rate (for the level of education) is bulls--t

 

[UConn_SDM]

I think I've said it before that a more accurate measure of suicidal tendencies would be the attempt rate per a given population

I tried suicide a couple times but failed.....so I gave up

 

[UConn_SDM]

But I still think the rumor about dentists having an even higher than normal suicide rate (for the level of education) is bulls--t

Maybe dental students.......I hadn't thought about it this was but maybe all those horrible dental school experiences were done on purpose to weed out the more mental unstable students

 

[Samkamaal]

I heard dentists have a high rate of suicide compared to other professions... or compared to other professions in health. If this is the case is there a reason for this?

............I am a dentist...so if I commit suicide tonight then would you believe the above quoted statistics?? Just kidding.....but Yes, I believe that and have known some dentists who committed suicide.

 

[lnn2]

I tried suicide a couple times but failed.....so I gave up

You didn't try hard enough

Dentists=high rate of suicide=one of the many false dental myths. If you're looking for reasons to commit suicide then there're plenty of them. School, student loans, various payments, unsuccessfull practice, patients...expensive wife..

 

[UConn_SDM]

You didn't try hard enough

That's why I'm a dentist. I really wanted to be a "real" doctor but couldn't get into med school so I gave up and became a dentist.

I fit every myth about dentists!

 

[MsPurtell]

Why does anyone give a crap about this anyway? Would it stop you from entering the profession?

I heard dentists have a high rate of suicide compared to other professions... or compared to other professions in health. If this is the case is there a reason for this?

 

[ItsGavinC]

Why does anyone give a crap about this anyway? Would it stop you from entering the profession?

That's what I've always wondered. It seems that if one is the type of person to think of this as a way of handling their problems, then it probably doesn't matter which profession they are in.

 

[grant555]

Grant, most people that comit suicide is because they are depressed. Not matter how much money and love they have....is not becuase they don't see how blessed they are It's a true mental desease that makes you blind and you can't see how wonderful you are and how much life is around you....

I have lost few friends.....

I agree with you here, but I don't see why the disillusionment customary to suicide is ever codified to dentistry. If you reallly are depressed and it doesn't matter how financially sound you are, then it wouldn't matter if you were a movie star or dentist, you would still hate yourself. Suicide figures are very difficult to discriminate to begin with.

I remember reading that in New Jersey the suicide rates surpassed the murder rate, which is no small feat. In my adolescence I was often depressed, and I know why. It was a number of factors none of which had anything to do with dentistry, and if I had allowed those things to linger into adulthood, it is reasonable that they would have later manifested in abundance.

Problem solving and/or the ability to deal with adversity are tools to live by because everyone is going to deal with good and bad times. Anyone who thinks that a profession or any amount of education will shield them from that is setting themselves up for a huge disappointment. I'm not putting people down, but there is always going to be somethings you hate that you are going to have to deal with. Take care and GOD bless.

 

[DrJeff]

Why does anyone give a crap about this anyway? Would it stop you from entering the profession?

Yah, but this myth is really fun to run with the 2 or 3 times a year that a patient will ask you "why do dentists have the highest suicide rate?'

my favorite reply (especially if the patient is a sarcastic one) is "because I have to stare into mouths like yours all day!"

or and even better one "you try having to smell breaths like yours all day long!"

 

[lnn2]

"because I have to stare into mouths like yours all day!"

or and even better one "you try having to smell breaths like yours all day long!"

Good one

 

[gonnabdds]

I am a person who has had to deal with lots of ups and downs in my life, so I have learned pretty good coping skills. Dentistry is full of ups and downs (or at least dental school is), especially when you try really hard. Many dentists are perfectionists, and at least for me, when my work is not good enough for my standard, it feels really crappy. On the other hand, when I feel like I've done a really nice job, it feels really good. I have left clinic feeling awesome, so so, and like total crap. That being said, I've never made lower than a B on anything in the clinic. So, I can imagine how bad someone feels if they do poorly on a competency or routinely struggle to pass. How does this equate to real world dentistry? Dentistry is one of the few health care professions where you see the end result instantly. Even surgery requires healing time to really see the result. I think the combination of placing high standards on ourselves (and by patients) and being able to see the result, we are more at risk for getting bummed out. I resist the urge to use the word depressed because if you keep your mind healthy and keep things into perspective you won't get depressed. Maybe we don't have the highest suicide rate, but dentistry can be a roller coaster ride for some. We need to acknowledge that and not let it negatively affect our health or relationships.

 

[MsPurtell]

LOL! I can't wait until I can get away with saying stuff like that when I'm thinking it!

Yah, but this myth is really fun to run with the 2 or 3 times a year that a patient will ask you "why do dentists have the highest suicide rate?'

my favorite reply (especially if the patient is a sarcastic one) is "because I have to stare into mouths like yours all day!"

or and even better one "you try having to smell breaths like yours all day long!"

 

[Dental Mom]

...

 

[DrJeff]

LOL! I can't wait until I can get away with saying stuff like that when I'm thinking it!

Probably 75% of the time when something that sarcastic (and more often perverse ) comes to mind, I'll just say it, and the patient, and my assistant, and any other office staff within earshot btreaks out laughing.

If my "read" on that person is that they're really, really likely to be ery offended/have absolutely no sense of humor, then I'll juts think it, not say it. Often a statement like those, will do wonders of getting those real nervous/tense patients to relax in the chair.

The real scary thing is that while I'll say things like above/make comments about "interesting" things, my partner is way, way less politically correct than I am, and since he's suffering from some hearing loss, he says it at a volume that typically anyone in any of our 7 operatories can hear quite easily

I can also tell you Ms. Purtell that if you let some 1 liners like that go infront of the head of your Prosth departrment, you'd see him rolling on the floor laughing, because while on first impression(no pun intended while talking about a prosthodontist ) he can seem quite serious and intimidating, he actually has one of the dryer/off color sense of humors of anyone in that glorious building up on the hill! And he really keeps audiences laughing at the C.E. lectures he gives!

 

[lee0539]

I was just talking to someone about my interest in dental field and they told me it has a high suicide rate and that is partly of many other reasons why they themselves decided medical instead of dental. I am not saying that it would affect my own decision but it has on others so i was curious as to how severe it was and if there was a reason behind them... like profession causes lots of stress compared to other professions or other reasons...

maybe its just a myth that medical students like to use when people ask them why they didnt do dental. who knows... i just wanted to find out if it was myth or fact.

 

[aphistis]

I was just talking to someone about my interest in dental field and they told me it has a high suicide rate and that is partly of many other reasons why they themselves decided medical instead of dental. I am not saying that it would affect my own decision but it has on others so i was curious as to how severe it was and if there was a reason behind them... like profession causes lots of stress compared to other professions or other reasons...

maybe its just a myth that medical students like to use when people ask them why they didnt do dental. who knows... i just wanted to find out if it was myth or fact.

So you're asking medical people about what dentistry is like? Did you ask your family dentist what it's like being a physician? Miseducation should be an equal opportunity endeavor.

 

[DRY SOCKET]

But it's not, so the whole question is moot to begin with.

hahahah, Dr Green said MOOT!

hahahahahah

What a wanker!

 

[grant555]

This is fundamentally and statistically not true, but has persisted nonetheless in some circles and even think tanks.

The reasons it is fundamentally incorrect is that for the past several years dentistry has been in the top 5 of the most respected professions in the country if not the world. This is the fact that is almost always conveniently forgotten when the suicide subject arises. There is seemingly no way that any profession can lead the suicide rate while simultaneously ranking in the top 5 most respected.

The statistical reason why the aforementioned logic is incorrect is that there are a bevy of professions that far outpace dentistry in suicide rates: one being air traffic controllers. The medical profession as a whole is up there statistically because of the "life and death" stresses that surround the careers, which the air traffic controllers also share.

There are many other professions that could make a case for this highest suicide rate, but dentistry isn't one of them. Whenever someone mentions the fallacy, I simply point out some of the aformentioned facts, and the argument becomes moot very quickly.

Also, I have another reason why I think this urban legend has persisted: fear. Fear is a great motivator, and many people quote fear as the main reason why they don't see a dentist regularly. I am no psychologist, but it lends to reason that anyone would systematically try to tear down something or someone they are afraid of and substantially consider a threat.

The one thing anyone in any profession can rely on is GOD, which should keep suicide far away from your mind no matter what you do for a living. Take care and GOD bless.

 

[hockeydentist]

True, life will never be pink there's always something to make us grow. I lived in Alaska where the suicide rate is high too. Lack of daylight makes some people feel very depressed. In my case, it made me very hungry and gained a lot of weight!

I don't think that been a dentist has anything to do with suicide either. It's life all together that can be the cherry on the cake....

lack of daylight in the winter maybe, but in the summer the sun never goes down, I thinks thats gods way of making up to folks in alaska. 9 months of darkness and 3 months of 24 hour sun.

 

[Inshaa]

i donot know how far this is true,but i remember when i was in dental school in India,in sameyear three dental students commited suicide ,one was my batchmate and he was doing his internship.so we never know,what happens in future.God bless everyone with peace of mind

 

[reccos]

i donot know how far this is true,but i remember when i was in dental school in India,in sameyear three dental students commited suicide ,one was my batchmate and he was doing his internship.so we never know,what happens in future.God bless everyone with peace of mind

Yeah, but that's India. Kids commit suicide in high school and prestigous places like IIT. The entire educational system there is high stress and the way people look at passing/failing is so much worse.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I was just talking to someone about my interest in dental field and they told me it has a high suicide rate and that is partly of many other reasons why they themselves decided medical instead of dental. I am not saying that it would affect my own decision but it has on others so i was curious as to how severe it was and if there was a reason behind them... like profession causes lots of stress compared to other professions or other reasons...

maybe its just a myth that medical students like to use when people ask them why they didnt do dental. who knows... i just wanted to find out if it was myth or fact.

wow, it's really sad that this person changed his career goals based on an unverified urban legend. honestly, a person that unwilling to do even a miniscule amount of research about a desired profession seems like an idiot.

 

[kato999]

wow, it's really sad that this person changed his career goals based on an unverified urban legend. honestly, a person that unwilling to do even a miniscule amount of research about a desired profession seems like an idiot.

Yeah, that is pathetic. Especially since the studies I have seen (although the sample sizes are a joke and the data is sketchy) claim that physicians have a higher suicide rate than dentists.

 

[jk5177]

Hi Everybody. My name is JK5177, and I committed suicide, so as the other person that posted earlier. Now we committed suicide for different reasons. Him? Probably some existentialist question that had no answer, thus life became meaningless. For me, I committed suicide because I'm tired of seeing people posting the same question over and over again. No offense to OP, but I rather just remove myself from this planet.

LOL. I kill myself.

 

[jk5177]

International Association for Suicide Prevention.

And... Did you know 9/10 is National Suicide Prevention Day?

http://www.med.uio.no/iasp/