Dear Leigh,
Within days of your suicide, your friends reached out to me for help in sharing the truth of your life—and death. Then came this letter from your aunt:
My niece is a physician who died by suicide on 4/14/20 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She mentioned in her suicide note that we contact you & gave permission to pass her information on to you as you are the leading authority on physician suicide.
I’ve spoken to your aunt almost daily. Then your mom and dad. I’ve read your suicide note(s)—the original and all 3 addenda—multiple times. In your final request you stated:
Please write an honest obituary for me. Don’t put some vague ‘was laid to rest’ or ‘passed on’ BS. Tell my truth. Physician suicide is an epidemic and it needs to be addressed—with making changes related to causation. This can’t happen if it’s not divulged. Pamela Wible, MD, is the pioneer of this issue—she can add me to the list of 1,300+ names.
You are a truthspeaker. I admire that. Censorship won’t prevent physician suicide nor will it end the stigma and discrimination within medicine that fueled your decision to end your life. I so wish you had reached out to me earlier. I would have loved to help you see how you could practice medicine—even launch your own nonprofit clinic in South Carolina this summer (maybe to serve patients in recovery—your lifelong passion).
But I never heard from you—until after your death.
So now I’m following the instructions you’ve left for us by publishing your suicide note on the one-month anniversary of your death (with permission from your family). My loyalty is to you. To amplify your voice, to share your words so we may learn from your experiences. You’ve asked that your original note “go viral” to start a real conversation about why you died so your death can prevent others from suffering the same fate. I agree with your philosophy. To prevent doctor suicides, we must analyze the causes clearly identified in doctors’ suicide notes. Years ago I published Physician Suicide Letters—Answered (free audiobook here) to break the silence, shame, and stigma of our doctor suicide crisis. We must take action based on the root cause analysis of each suicide—to prevent the loss of any more doctors. You are 100% correct.
I’ll address all of the issues you raise in your notes at the end—with actionable solutions for those who are still suffering.
(For readers like me who never had the opportunity to meet Dr. Leigh Sundem while she was alive, please read the beautiful tribute to her life and spirit on her GoFundMe page where you may support the Leigh Sundem Memorial Scholarship Fund)
Read rest of the Suicide Notes below. . .
Read more ›
