Do Psychiatrists actually get death threats?

[worrieddddpsych]

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So I’m still in high school(unfortunately) and I was reading a forum about this person going to extreme lengths to basically “delete” themselves from the internet.

I wasn’t 100% clear on the motive why but I’m guessing to stay safe from patients.

Do Psychiatrists actually get death threats from their patients? Like seriously, is this really a normal occurrence? I’ve seen a few threads where people bring it up nonchalantly and that’s a little bit terrifying...

I just want to know before I dedicate the next 13 years of my life to something that will end up killing me in a crazy horror movie type way.

I’m interested in child and adolescent psychiatrist so I’m not sure if children or teenagers are capable of making serious death threats but honestly a death threat is a death threat.

Thanks.


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[WisNeuro]

I imagine if you work in healthcare in general long enough, you'll probably get one. It's more common in certain situations. I've only gotten one so far lifetime, and I am involved in evaluations that determine compensation in some situations. That and other half-hearted threats of violence have never been anything to dissuade me from my job yet, still enjoyable. Not something I'd let get in the way of what you want to do. I may steer you away from high risk areas, like custody evals or things, but it's still worth it to most.

 

[worrieddddpsych]

I imagine if you work in healthcare in general long enough, you'll probably get one. It's more common in certain situations. I've only gotten one so far lifetime, and I am involved in evaluations that determine compensation in some situations. That and other half-hearted threats of violence have never been anything to dissuade me from my job yet, still enjoyable. Not something I'd let get in the way of what you want to do. I may steer you away from high risk areas, like custody evals or things, but it's still worth it to most.

Thank you for your insight. This makes me feel better about the field. I’m not sure what a custody eval is but i’ll make sure to stay wary of it.


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[WisNeuro]

Thank you for your insight. This makes me feel better about the field. I’m not sure what a custody eval is but i’ll make sure to stay wary of it.

I'm in Neuropsychology, just for clarification. You can ask psychiatrists in different contexts and they may differ in the level of threats they receive. A custody eval is where in a divorce, custody is disputed and the court relies on an expert to determine with which parent the child should live. These get very ugly. That is a situation where I could see an increase in death threats relative to other areas in healthcare.

 

[worrieddddpsych]

I'm in Neuropsychology, just for clarification. You can ask psychiatrists in different contexts and they may differ in the level of threats they receive. A custody eval is where in a divorce, custody is disputed and the court relies on an expert to determine with which parent the child should live. These get very ugly. That is a situation where I could see an increase in death threats relative to other areas in healthcare.

Oh wow. That makes sense and thanks for the clarification. You must be very brave to still go to work with minor/major threats coming your way. And neuropsychology sounds pretty cool too.


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[Bartelby]

I have had people kick at me or chuck water at me, but for what it's worth I have never received an actual death threat.

 

[WisNeuro]

I have had people kick at me or chuck water at me, but for what it's worth I have never received an actual death threat.

I think I'd rather have the random death threat than to be doused in water. I don't bring spare clothes to work.

 

[wolfvgang22]

One of the things you should learn in the course of becoming a psychiatrist is how to approach potentially violent people and when to give patients who are agitated some space. The #1 reason people in health care get assaulted or threatened is because they get in a rush and do not take the time to assess the situation before approaching or speaking with a patient. I never, ever try to deal with agitated patient on my own, and if I get a bad vibe from a patient I take precautions like ending an interview early and go for help from other staff. I try to be kind and take a moment or so to listen to every patient, and tell them why I'm doing what I'm doing as much as practically possible. This helps reduce risk a lot. The majority of psychiatrists have never experience assault.

I've been threatened by patients occassionally, mainly people with substance use disorders who have not liked my decision to refuse to prescribe substances they can abuse and aren't really interested in treatment. Fortunately, for me most of those people are weaker and less imposing than myself, but I still never want to be in a position where I might harm a patient in self defense and work hard to avoid bad situations. Mainly ambush with firearms or a knife by a patient when leaving the hospital is what I worry about sometimes. So far this has never happened, and I've never been stalked to my knowledge. Interestingly, research shows persons with substance use disorders are more likely to commit violence than persons with other psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia.

Regarding Facebook or social media or posting personal things online, I don't use Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, etc because these only increase my temptation to say something I may regret in the heat of the moment, and maintaining a good reputation and professionalism is part of maintaining a healthy career. It is the same with most actual professionals in a varied field, not just medicine. Also, I don't need knowledge of where I shop, exactly where I live, where I go on vacation, what I drive, or who I vote for to interfere with my relationship with patients. While most patients are respectful, some, not shockingly, have problems with proper boundaries. Finally, physicians are high earners and can be the targets of scammers. You will find many high earners or persons with any wealth will avoid giving up privacy for this reason.

 

[Sushirolls]

I've stopped counting the threats. But if I had to estimate, probably 10-15 so far. One or two have proceeded to local law enforcement putting a restraining order in. I've known one psychiatrist who was knocked down while working at a state hospital job.

Working in a psychiatric ED can be a source. A patient who no longer meets the criteria for observation, nor being admitted and upon learning they will be discharged, out comes the verbal threat. Similar situations with inpatient units when a patient is being discharged that doesn't want to be. Or can stem from being taken off an addictive potential medicine and the patient doesn't want to be taken off. Or if a patient is actively psychotic, can happen in context of these symptoms. Or in the office setting not getting the addictive potential medicine they want and at that time. I would say these constitute the bulk.

But threats can come from many reasons or issues. As others pointed out above, it also depends on the setting the psychiatrist practices in.

By my estimate I'll see something pop up on the news where 0-1 psychiatrists per year are killed by patients or even family member of patient.

However, violence can also happen to other physicians, too. The Emergency department is a higher risk area. Demented patients can be a large source of harm towards all medical staff, especially nursing, but not exactly mortal harm.

In summary, harm and threats are potential risk to not ignore, but not something to keep from pursuing the field when weighing all the pros/cons.

 

[worrieddddpsych]

I've stopped counting the threats. But if I had to estimate, probably 10-15 so far. One or two have proceeded to local law enforcement putting a restraining order in. I've known one psychiatrist who was knocked down while working at a state hospital job.

Working in a psychiatric ED can be a source. A patient who no longer meets the criteria for observation, nor being admitted and upon learning they will be discharged, out comes the verbal threat. Similar situations with inpatient units when a patient is being discharged that doesn't want to be. Or can stem from being taken off an addictive potential medicine and the patient doesn't want to be taken off. Or if a patient is actively psychotic, can happen in context of these symptoms. Or in the office setting not getting the addictive potential medicine they want and at that time. I would say these constitute the bulk.

But threats can come from many reasons or issues. As others pointed out above, it also depends on the setting the psychiatrist practices in.

By my estimate I'll see something pop up on the news where 0-1 psychiatrists per year are killed by patients or even family member of patient.

However, violence can also happen to other physicians, too. The Emergency department is a higher risk area. Demented patients can be a large source of harm towards all medical staff, especially nursing, but not exactly mortal harm.

In summary, harm and threats are potential risk to not ignore, but not something to keep from pursuing the field when weighing all the pros/cons.

Thank you for your insight. All this is putting me at ease and inspiring new motivation to continue down my career path.


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[Monocles]

I've gotten multiple death threats during the course of residency and have been personally going to therapy for. Of course some of our rotations (especially in emergency settings) are in very rough locations. In med school however I've had universally more positive experiences, but mostly because I worked with kids and adolescents from well-educated, suburban populations.

Obligatory run away from medicine soapbox: OP I love psychiatry but I would be very careful about pursuing the field of medicine in general. Make sure you shadow some psychiatrists in various settings before you commit your entire 20s going through the training system. Go to college with an open mind and perhaps you'll end up liking something else that would make you happier! 🙂

 

[FlowRate]

Working in a psychiatric ED can be a source. A patient who no longer meets the criteria for observation, nor being admitted and upon learning they will be discharged, out comes the verbal threat

Yeah, same, all of the threats I've received were in the ED, with varying degrees of actual intent vs. just malingering.

 

[MBBSMOM]

I got a phone call from one of my patients friend . The friend said that the pt wanted to kill me , knew where I lived and wanted to key my car. Pt has bpd so I know she has a problem with splitting . When I confronted pt she denied these allegations. At that time I had been seeing her for 4 years . So I did trust her over her friend . This to date has been the only death that I’ve received .

 

[worrieddddpsych]

I've gotten multiple death threats during the course of residency and have been personally going to therapy for. Of course some of our rotations (especially in emergency settings) are in very rough locations. In med school however I've had universally more positive experiences, but mostly because I worked with kids and adolescents from well-educated, suburban populations.

Obligatory run away from medicine soapbox: OP I love psychiatry but I would be very careful about pursuing the field of medicine in general. Make sure you shadow some psychiatrists in various settings before you commit your entire 20s going through the training system. Go to college with an open mind and perhaps you'll end up liking something else that would make you happier! 🙂

I’m very sorry for your experiences so far and hope your therapy is going well. And I’ll keep in open mind in college.

 

[worrieddddpsych]

I got a phone call from one of my patients friend . The friend said that the pt wanted to kill me , knew where I lived and wanted to key my car. Pt has bpd so I know she has a problem with splitting . When I confronted pt she denied these allegations. At that time I had been seeing her for 4 years . So I did trust her over her friend . This to date has been the only death that I’ve received .

That’s really scary and I’m sorry you had to go through that.

 

[MBBSMOM]

That’s really scary and I’m sorry you had to go through that.

It was but I chose to believe the patient who I had known for 4 years and no previous violent history. Rather than the friend I’ve never met .

 

[dassie]

So I’m still in high school(unfortunately) and I was reading a forum about this person going to extreme lengths to basically “delete” themselves from the internet.

I wasn’t 100% clear on the motive why but I’m guessing to stay safe from patients.

Do Psychiatrists actually get death threats from their patients? Like seriously, is this really a normal occurrence? I’ve seen a few threads where people bring it up nonchalantly and that’s a little bit terrifying...

I just want to know before I dedicate the next 13 years of my life to something that will end up killing me in a crazy horror movie type way.

I’m interested in child and adolescent psychiatrist so I’m not sure if children or teenagers are capable of making serious death threats but honestly a death threat is a death threat.

Thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

It’s not uncommon to get yelled at by a decompensated/acutely agitated patient in the ED or in inpatient but I think credible, actual death threats are probably rare, especially if you do mostly outpatient therapy/med management. I think my surgeon friends get a lot more death threats than I do, honestly.

 

[Crayola227]

It’s not uncommon to get yelled at by a decompensated/acutely agitated patient in the ED or in inpatient but I think credible, actual death threats are probably rare, especially if you do mostly outpatient therapy/med management. I think my surgeon friends get a lot more death threats than I do, honestly.

from their spouses or their patients?