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Suicide warning signs in physicians—and how to help
Physician Suicide Awareness Day: Resources for doctors
Stress, anxiety and depression are daily challenges for thousands of doctors nationwide.
This doesn’t make them any different than the millions of Americans who face similar mental health issues.
However, physicians are often even less willing to seek help. Our physician identity encompasses values of selflessness, stoicism, commitment to protecting others, competitiveness and excellence. These are our strengths—and our vulnerabilities.
Today is National Physician Suicide Awareness Day, an annual reminder that doctors are not immune to the stress points that all too often go down a dangerous path.
Mental health support for physicians
Most health systems, including Northwell, have support programs in place to help physicians struggling with suicidal tendencies. At Northwell, these resources include a dedicated physician resource network line, a behavioral health concierge line, and an employee and family assistance program.
Northwell also operates a Center for Traumatic Stress Resilience and Recovery (CTSRR), launched last year to help employees, their families and members of the community who are struggling with feelings of trauma, grief and loss as a result of events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has clearly added to the stress levels of physicians and non-physicians alike.
Four hundred physicians die each year by suicide, a statistic that is both tragic and personal for advocate Corey Feist, JD, MBA. He joins Northwell's Patricia Flynn and Mayer Bellehsen, PhD, to discuss barriers to seeking help, suicide prevention, and physician burnout.
Helping the helpers
While those resources are often effective, there’s another vital piece of the support system: Fellow physicians.
It’s worth a self-examination in which we ask ourselves, What more can I do to help? We offer four steps clinicians can take every day:
- Listen closely to one another
- Show empathy toward co-workers
- Connect with them, especially when they’re down
- Create an environment that fosters hope
Physicians keenly understand the pressures and responsibility of being doctors. We care for patients during their weakest moments. During the pandemic, that’s been exacerbated.
Residents, medical students and experienced doctors all put in long hours, and many have gone well into debt to reach the top of their profession.
If you sense that someone is struggling, I encourage you to listen and connect. Those opportunities to help our peers can be rare and any help you can provide could end up changing someone’s life trajectory.
Don’t underestimate the importance of peer-to-peer support.
Warning signs
While there is no one cause for suicide, the combination of stressors and health issues, like depression, anxiety and substance use disorders, can lead to feelings of hopelessness and despair and put someone at higher risk—especially when untreated. Depression often goes undiagnosed or untreated.
If you notice a colleague exhibiting a change in behavior or a sudden new behavior, reach out. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention notes that warning signs can include:
- Increased substance use
- Withdrawal from normal activities
- Isolating from family, friends
- Aggression
- Fatigue
- Talking about feeling:
- hopeless
- trapped
- being in unbearable pain
- like a burden
- like no reason to live
Check-in with fellow physicians
Keep your eyes open to perceive stress in your colleagues. If a colleague opens up to us about being stressed, we shouldn’t be afraid to have a conversation. In fact, I encourage actively reaching out to colleagues.
Offer to be a sounding board. Listen with patience and see where your colleague is in the journey to seeking help. When in doubt, just ask “how can I help you?” Please familiarize yourself with resources available for physicians so you can offer to connect colleagues in need. This way, we know how to help, even if it’s in a small way.
Don’t get frustrated if our support doesn’t make it all better overnight. This takes time. But if we support and listen to our stressed co-workers, and stay engaged, we can make a difference.
If you need to learn more about peer support, contact us at CTSRR or Peer to Peer Program at the Medical Society of the State of New York
National support
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Help Line
Free and confidential support for people in distress: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
Northwell support groups for employees
Behavioral Health Navigation
Confidential concierge service for Northwell employees, staffed by licensed behavioral health clinicians who help employees to determine behavioral health needs and facilitate access to appropriate services within Northwell Health and/or the community.
Center for Traumatic Stress Resilience and Recovery
Services to promote resilience and recovery from traumatic stress, including evidence-based clinical psychotherapy, short-term resilience coaching for groups and individuals, education and training on stress and resilience, and implementation of Stress First Aid, a peer support model for organizations.
Employee and Family Assistance Program (EAP):
Free, confidential counseling for all employees and their family members
Resident Mental Health Program:
Confidential mental health treatment for house staff physicians
Northwell’s Physician Resource Network (PRN):
100% confidential and designed for physicians
Related News
To support those struggling with the mental health effects of COVID-19, Northwell Health has established the Center for Traumatic Stress, Resilience and Recovery.
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