Why Do Doctors Off Themselves More than the Rest of Us?

I hear it all the time in my assisted living homes.

“Resident X has an issue”.

“Better call the doctor”.

We look to doctors and other medical professionals to solve our aches and pains. It’s just the default reaction for so many of us.

What if that doctor has problems of their own?

What if your doctor was thinking about suicide? Many of them do. Suicide rates among medical doctors are much higher than the general population. Female doctors are 250% higher than the rest of us. Male doctors - 70%.

Do you think if your doctor was thinking about ending their life, they would seek help? Or just keep it bottled up inside?

Historically, the medical profession handled doctor’s suicide thoughts in the following ways:

• Potential medical license suspension

• Removal of hospital privileges

• Hinder professional advancement

The message was “If you’re hurting, suck it up”. No wonder the suicide rate is so high.

Think about surgeons. Someone often is putting their life in your hands.

Screw it up, and you could potentially feel like you killed someone. What would that do to you?

“Yeah, but that’s why the are paid so much”. Would a lot of money make you feel better if you felt like you killed someone?

Maybe some people do. Those people are evil. Most of us would PAY a lot of money to bring that victim back.

Physicians have many aspects of their job that mirror the top contributory factors for depression:

• Stress? - oh yeah

• Lack of sleep? - in many specialties and residencies

• Financial burdens? Med school is expensive - debt is a big burden for doctors

When doctors have these issues, they need to talk to someone about it. Yet the fear of being in trouble is always there.

Medical mistakes are, by some estimates, the third leading cause of death in the United States, right behind heart disease and cancer. There’s also a whole host of lawyers out there ready to sue doctors for any medical mistakes.

Feeling the pressure yet?

When I was in manufacturing and we saw multiple people on the line making the same mistakes, we knew it wasn’t the people. It was the process.

With so many medical mistakes, it makes me convinced we have a process problem with all kinds of issues. We put so much faith in the “experts” that when the experts get it wrong, they can become especially depressed. And customers can be especially irate. Not only do they feel horrible for potentially causing great harm. They also may have the lawyers after them.

Medical lawsuits are not very trivial.

And the system blames them for it.

We need to help the doctors. Don’t put them on a pedestal. Don’t let them be your leader. Make them a team mate. Realize you are the team captain. Or you’re the captain for a family member who may not be able to make decisions on their own.

As the leader of your team, do everything you can to make the doctor’s role easy. Don’t just party like it’s 1999 and then depend on your doctor to fix the hangover. Take care of yourself. Stay as healthy as you can.

When issues happen, do everything you can to recover. Your doctor should just be part of your treatment plan.

That way, your recovery will happen faster and have a better outcome. Plus it might cheer up your doctor and improve their mental health as well.