DEFINITION

Suicide is a leading cause of death in the U.S., and physicians face unique risks.

• While some early research indicated that physicians suffered much higher than average suicide rates[1], it is becoming clear that, adjusting for demographics, this may not be the case[2]. Most precisely, female physicians are at higher risk of suicide than nonphysician females, and male physicians are at lower risk of suicide than non-physician males[3][4].
  • A recent U.S. cohort study found that female physicians had a ~50% higher suicide rate than female nonphysicians between 2017–2021 (IRR 1.53), whereas male physicians had lower suicide rates than male nonphysicians (IRR 0.84).[4]
• This gender discrepancy is true not only in the U.S. but also globally[1].
• Overall though, worldwide physician suicide has significantly decreased since 1980[3].
• Physicians who die by suicide are less likely to be receiving mental health treatment than nonphysicians who die by suicide[5], although they are more likely to have a preceding mental illness.[4]
• The most common mental disorders in physicians are depression and/or substance use[3].
• Common means of suicide used by physicians include poisoning, firearms, asphyxiation, and cutting.[3][4][6]
  • Self‐poisoning with drugs was more common in doctors than in general population suicides as was self-cutting[6].
    • “A retrospective toxicology screening of suicide data finds physicians are more likely than nonphysicians to have positive results for antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates but not antidepressants. This links to physicians being undertreated for depression despite current effective treatments, whereas the positive toxicology findings may indicate substance abuse, self-medication, or intentional toxicity”[5].