NEW YORK — With one completed suicide every day, US physicians have the highest suicide rate of any profession. In addition, the number of physician suicides is more than twice that of the general population, new research shows.
A systematic literature review of physician suicide shows that the suicide rate among physicians is 28 to 40 per 100,000, more than double that in the general population.
Physicians who die by suicide often suffer from untreated or undertreated depression or other mental illnesses, a fact that underscores the need for early intervention, study investigator Deepika Tanwar, MD, Psychiatric Program, Harlem Hospital Center, New York City, told Medscape Medical News.
"It's very surprising" that the suicide rate among physicians is higher than among those in the military, which is considered a very stressful occupation, Tanwar told Medscape Medical News.
The findings were presented here at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2018 annual meeting.
Stigma, Access to Lethal Means
Using MEDLINE and PubMed, the investigators conducted a systematic literature review of physician suicide that included articles published in peer-reviewed journals during the past 10 years.
The review showed that the physician suicide rate was 28 to 40 per 100,000; in the general population, the overall rate was 12.3 per 100,000.
