When Doctors Kill Themselves (sinus, allergy, pain, blood)

[jaminhealth]

http://www.newsweek.com/when-doctors...emselves-85651

I woke up this morning to NPR Second Opinion Dr. Wilkes segment on doctors and depression and suicide and started to do a search on this...there are many links about this subject. I've seen enough doctors in my long life and one comes to mind from the 80's when I was plagued with allergy and sinus issues. Went to an allergist for maybe a year or so, I forget how long exactly. Taking the drugs, getting injections and never getting better. The doctor always had a red nose, always sniffling and always an office waiting room with wall to wall patients waiting for him to help them.

Years later I heard from a pharmacist who worked in that bldg years ago, that Dr. K committed suicide...I was shocked, of course, and never found out WHY. Perhaps depression and frustration that he could not heal people...his drugs and injections never healed or helped me.

And I'm certain the world of OPC's were no where near the U.S. marketplace of health and healing. I didn't hear about them until 1995 when they entered my life in the form of Pycnogenol and then Grape Seed Extract a year later.

MOST with allergies and sinus issues still have no clue on the OPC's.

I'll add more of my doctor experiences and know others will add their's here.

Personally, I would not want to be a doctor for all the money in the world. I enjoy helping the people I do for free and hope that my info will help them and their health.

I don't run to doctors much, am seeing a D.O. now for osteopathic work and HOPE she doesn't burn out..she works hard to try to help patients feel better with her bodywork and helping to re-align our messed up bodies. My daughter sees her, she's taking her son soon and my neighbor sees her....she's doing some good for us as she's moving parts that are stuck and tight. And getting blood moving more.

I've thought about this subject a lot and how doctors have got to get burned out "TRYING" to constantly help people to feel and get better. I have a kinda friend who is always going to the doctors, she does not work on her own health. So frustrating I'm sure for her doctors as she's a pretty big pain in the neck anyway. She's talked about being dismissed by some of her doctors over the years...wonder why? She's given up her car so now engages uber to get to all her doctors. I've tried to help her, but have given up.

[Texas Ag 93]

I don't think many people have any idea the extreme mental, emotional and even physical stress physicians endure. I'm married to a physician and personally know many other physicians as well, most of our friends, in fact. However, I have never personally known one that committed suicide. My husband and I have been together for 20 years, since before he even started medical school, so I have watched his entire career unfold, and I myself spent over ten years working in the same institutions as him. First, they have to endure the stress of medical school and residency training, where the name of the game is to crush you and knock you down, so they can build you back up again. Though times and methods have changed, there are still a lot of vestiges of the "old school", apprenticeship aspects of residency training, including brutal working hours, malignant/tough programs and attending physicians, and very little recourse for physicians in training to address problems. However, a lot of this is done to prepare physicians for a workplace that is going to very difficult to work in and requires a lot of mental toughness.

Physicians have to deal with patients and families who expect and demand perfection (something that is impossible to promise) and are very quick to hold anyone and everyone accountable if that expectation is not met. Physicians themselves often set the bar far too high and hold themselves to a standard they will never be able to achieve, and of course, this causes them stress. Some patients are rude, noncompliant and a small percent even have a vested interest in not wanting to get better. Administrators are constantly tracking and monitoring productivity goals, insurance companies are breathing down your neck. The list does on and on.

Then, if a physician seeks assistance dealing with these stressors, particularly in the form of any mental health services, they face the possibility of a stigma for doing so. Every single state licensure application and hospital credentialing packet we have ever filled out asks detailed questions about mental health history and treatment. The fear that disclosing this information can, and will, be used against you, scares a lot of physicians away from seeking assistance.

However, I don't think physicians are alone in these regards. I think a lot of these same considerations can be found in other high stress careers as well. Active duty military, pilots, Law Enforcement Officers etc. Careers that rely on significant training, celebrate mental and emotional toughness, stigmatize weakness, and allow very little room for imperfection etc.