“Have you ever been depressed as a physician?” I asked 220 doctors. Ninety percent stated yes. Yet few seek professional help. Here’s what depressed doctors do (when nobody’s looking). Some drink alcohol, exercise obsessively, even steal psychiatric meds. Still more shocking—I discovered that 75% of med students (and new doctors) are now on psychiatric medications.
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Do depressed doctors go to doctors? Do they even seek help? What do depressed doctors do when they’re not helping you? Doctors have affairs. They drink alcohol and smoke pot. They steal prescription medications. They binge-eat crap, scream, and exercise obsessively. Depressed doctors contemplate suicide. They hide their feelings to prevent being punished by licensing boards or mistreated by “Physician Health Programs.” Fact: depression is an occupational hazard in medicine.
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What prevents us from being the doctors we always imagined? We enter medicine as inspired, intelligent, compassionate humanitarians. Soon we’re cynical and exhausted. How did all these totally amazing and high-functioning people get screwed up so fast? Attention: med students and doctors: It’s not your fault.
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A few months ago, I got this invitation from the director of graduate medical education:
We have 115 residents and no meaningful wellness program to speak of. My goal is to create not only a resident but also a faculty wellness program. To help jumpstart the endeavor,
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“Burnout” is a smokescreen for rampant human rights violations in medicine. Am I losing anyone here? Let me break it down.
“Burnout” is a complete mental and physical collapse from overwork. Psychiatrists define it as a job-related dysphoria in an individual without major psychopathy.
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Doctor revived after suicide. Here's what he says.
