Destigmatizing Mental Health Care for Physicians

There is a mental health crisis for physicians. Hundreds of doctors die by suicide every year in America. This is caused by the convergence of several factors, including acute stress, burnout, and a culture that demands doctors to be somehow superhuman.

The coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated these factors, a reality made all too clear by the tragic death of Dr. Lorna Breen. Doctors are human. We grieve the loss of our patients, the onslaught of which is now happening at a rate that we are wholly unaccustomed to. We feel a lack of control over the often unpredictable outcomes of COVID-19. We experience anxiety over the lack of PPE. The coronavirus pandemic has taken the daily stressors of life as a physician and magnified them tenfold. We are being asked to set aside our own trauma as we deal with the trauma of a nation.

Recently, my colleague, Dr. Esther Choo, wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post about the dire position doctors are in. She wrote, "When it comes to mental health, physicians seldom seek the kind of care they recommend to their patients, whether out of shame, fear of being stigmatized or silent acquiescence to the unwritten stoic norms of the profession. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, with its extraordinary stresses on health-care workers, has made clear how vital it is to change this culture."

What will it take to end the stigma of doctors seeking and receiving mental health care? Why are those who care for the country's physical health shunned for acknowledging our own need to care for mental health?

There is work happening to destigmatize the seeking of mental health care among medical professionals? Brave physicians are opening up about their own struggles and let other physicians know they aren't alone. Schools and hospitals should empower physicians to prioritize mental health. We must recognize the humanity of physicians and demand that recent strides toward embracing mental health care extend to medical professionals, too.