Physician Suicide And Burnout: How We Can Improve The Statistics

By Maria C. Lesetz, Certified Life Coach for Physicians, specializing in Burnout

(Editor’s Note: This week and next, we are honored to partner with Maria to bring a two-part series to our readers on physician suicide and burnout. Maria has dedicated much of her career to these critical topics. We will be featuring the second part of her article next week on the blog as well as more content focused on this important issue in Physician Family Magazine in January.)

Before I was asked to write about this topic, I was receiving an abundance of Google alerts in my inbox about the rise in suicide rates or attempts of suicide for people in the medical profession. Right away, I thought, “what can I do to improve the statistics?” According to Medscape, on average, as many as 400 physicians in the United States are lost each year to suicide. Imagine the ripple effect of how many lives those suicides negatively impact.

I devote a good percentage of my career to coaching physicians and helping them pivot burnout into having more joy and peace in their life. I also asked myself this question because the statistician in me from my corporate days knows that if there is an open and honest discussion about physician suicide, without any shame attached to sharing and without making it taboo to discuss, that valuable data can be collected which can lead to viable solutions.

So, off I went to collect some data.

I have been conducting phone interviews with many of the physicians who have opted in to receive my free Rx for Physician Burnout report. During the process, I have discovered quite a few insightful answers as to why some physicians take their own lives and opt to escape the stressors that are unique to the profession.

Many of the physicians I spoke to indicated that the top contributors to physicians committing suicide are the following:

* Isolation

* Burnout

* Complacency

* Lack of support

* Lack of autonomy

* Fatigue

* Frustration

* Depression

* Changes in society

* Less respect for physicians

One of the physicians I interviewed even stated one of the reasons to be “expectations of Americans – they want what they want when they want it – patients are not appreciative any more.”

Now, each of these reasons could have its own article or blog post (which I will be writing at a later date), but for now, it’s important to address what you can do as a family member to help your loved ones who are on that slippery slope of burnout.

In order to do that you must be able to recognize the signs. By sharing what I have learned from the physicians I have interviewed, I hope that it will help you to understand how they feel and to notice warning signs that could lead to solutions before it gets too far.

It’s important to note, that some of the physicians I spoke to thought about committing suicide, so they are speaking from that energy mindset of what led them to even think about taking their own lives.

It’s a shame what really goes on in the medical profession and what is expected of human beings that have an extraordinary job of taking care of the health and wellbeing of society!

Be sure to check out the second post in the series here, where you can read more information on how we can improve the statistics of physician suicide and burnout.

Maria Lesetz is a Certified Life Coach for Physicians and a Law of Attraction Happiness Coach. She is also a motivational speaker, frequent guest expert on various health and wellness radio shows and has been featured on Fox News at 10, bringing her message of Finding Happiness through Adversity to mainstream TV. Over the past nine years, Maria has devoted her time to helping her physician clients and their families address the issues of burnout head on, transitioning their experience from burnout to wellness and a renewed peace of mind. To apply for a complimentary Rx for Physician Burnout Breakthrough Session with Maria, apply by clicking here.