How many doctors committed suicide last year?

[john7991]

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One of my friends tried to discourage me from becoming a doctor by telling me that doctors have some of the highest suicide rates.

I responded by telling them that the numbers are misleading. Because there are different types of physicians which require different kinds of work, stress, and time, you would have to separate the suicide rates of them all to get an accurate look at which of them actually has the highest suicide rate and then individually rank them next to the different professions, for example, #1 neurosurgeon, #2 police officer #3 psychiatrist, #4 soldier…. #30 Dermatologist…

I tried finding that information, but it seems impossible. Any help?

 

[SweetBurger]

like how derm got #30 spot

 

[Tenk]

I doubt it exists. Also, physicians have really good ways of killing themselves without it looking like a suicide.

Did you know that when other people are in a plane, physician pilots (in general) have a great flight safety record. Did you know that when physician pilots are flying solo they have a terrible one?

I have no intention of killing myself, but if I did it would look like an accident to collect insurance money for my family. We tend to care more about others than ourselves all while dealing with high stress situations in a profession that shuns mental health (even though we are involved in it). It’s pretty much the perfect storm. It’s good that physician suicide is finally getting a lot more attention and hopefully the numbers begin to improve over time.

 

[Browns99]

One of my friends tried to discourage me from becoming a doctor by telling me that doctors have some of the highest suicide rates.

I responded by telling them that the numbers are misleading. Because there are different types of physicians which require different kinds of work, stress, and time, you would have to separate the suicide rates of them all to get an accurate look at which of them actually has the highest suicide rate and then individually rank them next to the different professions, for example, #1 neurosurgeon, #2 police officer #3 psychiatrist, #4 soldier…. #30 Dermatologist…

I tried finding that information, but it seems impossible. Any help?

You need new friends......for someone to actually try to discourage someone from being a doctor based on the statement above is ridiculous. End of discussion.

 

[Med Ed]

I have no intention of killing myself, but if I did it would look like an accident to collect insurance money for my family.

If you hold the policy for a requisite amount of time it should still pay out, even in cases of suicide. Check the fine print.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

If you hold the policy for a requisite amount of time it should still pay out, even in cases of suicide. Check the fine print.

Many times it will pay back what you've paid into it but you will not get the full benefit.

Mine is like that.

 

[hamstergang]

I doubt it exists. Also, physicians have really good ways of killing themselves without it looking like a suicide.

I just typed into Google, "physician suicide rates by specialty" and got results. Sure, the data won't be perfect, but it never is for suicide for a variety of reasons.

That said, I agree with others that this is a terrible reason for considering medicine as a whole or any specialty.

 

[GoSpursGo]

You need new friends......for someone to actually try to discourage someone from being a doctor based on the statement above is ridiculous. End of discussion.

I actually disagree, maybe not because of the suicide rate specifically, but it is a valid statement that physicians have a very high rate of mental health problems. I am very, very happy with my career, but many of my colleagues are not. You spend a long time in training, accrue a ton of debt, and for you to find out after all that that you are actually not happy doing the job... but that you're kind of stuck in medicine because you can't easily change careers like other people who hate their jobs... that can be an incredibly taxing for mental health. So from my perspective it is perfectly reasonable advice to suggest that one consider his or her mental health before embarking on this process.

Moving to pre-med.

 

[Browns99]

I actually disagree, maybe not because of the suicide rate specifically, but it is a valid statement that physicians have a very high rate of mental health problems. I am very, very happy with my career, but many of my colleagues are not. You spend a long time in training, accrue a ton of debt, and for you to find out after all that that you are actually not happy doing the job... but that you're kind of stuck in medicine because you can't easily change careers like other people who hate their jobs... that can be an incredibly taxing for mental health. So from my perspective it is perfectly reasonable advice to suggest that one consider his or her mental health before embarking on this process.

Moving to pre-med.

Not sure you understood my point, I'm not saying that there are no negatives associated within the medical field, but to discourage someone? Sucide/mental health issues could be found in a lot fields like; miners, law enforcement, fisherman, dentists, and the list goes on. Do you suggest that people should be discouraged to go into those fields? Try working in a mine all day 🙂

 

[GoSpursGo]

Not sure you understood my point, I'm not saying that there are no negatives associated within the medical field, but to discourage someone? Sucide/mental health issues could be found in a lot fields like; miners, law enforcement, fisherman, dentists, and the list goes on. Do you suggest that people should be discouraged to go into those fields? Try working in a mine all day 🙂

… I understood your point, but I think the distinction between “discouraging” and encouraging that one consider the negatives to be pretty insignificant. There are negatives about any job, and one should consider them for any field before pursuing that field.

 

[Browns99]

… I understood your point, but I think the distinction between “discouraging” and encouraging that one consider the negatives to be pretty insignificant. There are negatives about any job, and one should consider them for any field before pursuing that field.

Ok, fair enough.

 

[jhmmd]

One of my friends tried to discourage me from becoming a doctor by telling me that doctors have some of the highest suicide rates.

I responded by telling them that the numbers are misleading. Because there are different types of physicians which require different kinds of work, stress, and time, you would have to separate the suicide rates of them all to get an accurate look at which of them actually has the highest suicide rate and then individually rank them next to the different professions, for example, #1 neurosurgeon, #2 police officer #3 psychiatrist, #4 soldier…. #30 Dermatologist…

I tried finding that information, but it seems impossible. Any help?

This is true, as well as for health professions in general
Not sure if anyone has published anything ranking suicide risk/rate by specialty, however...

 

[battie]

… I understood your point, but I think the distinction between “discouraging” and encouraging that one consider the negatives to be pretty insignificant. There are negatives about any job, and one should consider them for any field before pursuing that field.

In veterinary medicine, the high suicide rate and negative mental health considerations are actually things brought up frequently to pre-veterinary students as a consideration of whether or not to join the profession. The discussion over in pre-vet and on pre-vet Facebook pages has actually had a very positive response from younger students. Has the discussion led students to delay applying to vet school or not apply at all and move on? Of course. And that's the point of the discussion. If mental health considerations are a top priority for them, they should know that info.

 

[Tenk]

If you hold the policy for a requisite amount of time it should still pay out, even in cases of suicide. Check the fine print.

Yeah, depends on the policy, but always remember an insurance companies number one priority is to take money, not pay money and they will do whatever they can to not pay. This is true for every type, not just life insurance.

 

[SCallergydoc]

Most policies have a two year wait before you can collect on a suicide

 

[Browns99]

In veterinary medicine, the high suicide rate and negative mental health considerations are actually things brought up frequently to pre-veterinary students as a consideration of whether or not to join the profession. The discussion over in pre-vet and on pre-vet Facebook pages has actually had a very positive response from younger students. Has the discussion led students to delay applying to vet school or not apply at all and move on? Of course. And that's the point of the discussion. If mental health considerations are a top priority for them, they should know that info.

Again, no one is saying that those considerations should not be brought up, however no one should DISCOURAGE you from going into any field, that's a decision you make after considering everything, including the stresses, mental health issues, etc.

 

[battie]

Again, no one is saying that those considerations should not be brought up, however no one should DISCOURAGE you from going into any field, that's a decision you make after considering everything, including the stresses, mental health issues, etc.

I never said anything about discouraging people.

But I'll actually push back a bit because it's about perspective. If a pre-vet student expresses concern about vet school because of their current/previous mental health problems, we have no problem encouraging them to delay applying/matriculation until they have successfully handled the issues. Or you can frame that as discouraging them from applying. Kinda depends on perspective at that point.

 

[Browns99]

I never said anything about discouraging people.

But I'll actually push back a bit because it's about perspective. If a pre-vet student expresses concern about vet school because of their current/previous mental health problems, we have no problem encouraging them to delay applying/matriculation until they have successfully handled the issues. Or you can frame that as discouraging them from applying. Kinda depends on perspective at that point.

The OP simply said that a friend tried to discourage him from being a doctor (generally speaking, it appears) because they have some of the "highest suicide rates", nothing about whether he(OP) had stresses, mental health problems like the example you just gave, so to be honest, your are making an argument completely away from what the original simple question was that was posted by the OP. You actually went off course.

 

[proudofmykids]

I would think job satisfaction by profession would be a better metric to use when selecting a career than suicides.