Physician suicide...why?

[katarzyna]

don't ever become a dentist.

or ???


I've heard/read that it's true but why do other people think it's not?

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[katarzyna]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/b...rss&adxnnlx=1210360670-RRiMMFiMAb/3ZF2CkKi5NA

Just thought I'd throw that out there.


Mankiw doesn't crunch the numbers, but he's a pretty smart dude and he comes up with a few things that not everybody has considered.

 

[CubaLibre]

with all the b!tching and moaning that goes on just here on SDN, I wonder why anyone is surprised by this article at all. it makes a lot of sense.

 

[tvanhens]

When did I say I consider food a commodity and not a need? I wholly approve of the French price fixing system on bread, cheese, and water so that even the poorest citizen can afford the day's food.

Fixed prices decrease market competition and lead to shortages.

 

[ryandote]

..

 

[Quix]

I think this is both a falsely negative stereotype about psychiatry and a positive one about the other specialties. Most psychiatric illnesses do have effective treatments today, if not perfect ones. It is true that "cures" are rare in psychiatry but they are in most other fields as well, especially primary care and internal medicine. Most medical care is about management of chronic disease.

I'm well aware of the relative cure vs. treatment rates, and I'm comfortable with my characterizations. I saw significantly more instances of metabolic disorders and acute crises cured in two years of critical care research than I did in two years of working the behavioral health unit and geriatric psychiatry unit, and the literature supports relatively more cures in house medicine and critical care than in other specialties.

I think you're conflating several different things here. Working at a hospital or not has nothing to do with whether or not you're in private practice. Most doctors who practice in hospital settings are in private practice and have privileges at the hospitals. Perhaps you're thinking of doctors who are actual hospital or HMO employees, but that's still rare in most specialties and is if anything probably a lower stress environment.

Again, my experience has taught me otherwise, and while I admit I am simplifying and painting with a relatively broad brush (considering I have only time for a brief response), the overall trend is true, as evidenced in the policy literature and public health databases. The clinicians with whom I have worked in the past seven years have had very similar experiences. While there are exceptions, this does seem to be the trend.

We're talking about suicide here. The term "self-injury" usually refers to behavior without suicidal intent, such as cutting.

I am well aware of what the term means, and again, I'm satisfied with my characterization. Having worked psychiatry for several years, there is no conflict with the terminology.