Physician Suicide in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“In addition to the detrimental effect on the general public’s mental health, it has been shown that frontline healthcare workers experienced significant distress during COVID-19 [9].”

“A considerable number of physicians in the US primary care specialties consists of International Medical Graduates (IMGs), many of whom have not visited their home countries in the context of US embassy closures and travel restrictions [14,16].”

“Compared with nonphysicians, male physicians are 40% more likely to die by suicide, and the risk to female physicians is more than doubled [13].”

“COVID-19 led to social distancing and isolation, and there has been evidence of its ill effects on pre-existing mental health issues and the development of new mental health issues [1,2].”

“Noteworthy factors in the development of distress in healthcare workers included feelings of loss of control and vulnerability and difficulty adapting to change [10].”

“In addition, studies on mortality related to suicide show that the rates of suicides in physicians are consistently higher than in the general population [12].”

“The increased stressors due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the family unit have led to increasing mental health concerns across the lifespan from parents to their children [7,8].”

“COVID-19 led to social distancing and isolation, and there has been evidence of its ill effects on pre-existing mental health issues and the development of new mental health issues [1,2].”

“Masking during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to decompensation of multiple psychiatric comorbidities, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in some individuals [4].”

“Excessive cleaning and recommended hygiene practices during COVID-19 have potentially contributed to the worsening symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in many individuals [5].”

“However, social support for HCWs dealing with mental health issues was not as readily available as it should be, even though the resources had been prepared for their use.(15) Although previous studies have indicated that positive resources and support in individuals’ social networks improve their ability to acquire a…”

“13,19 To complicate matters, the stigma around mental health within the medical community can make it even more challenging for those of us who struggle to fi nd the support so desperately need.”

“Healthcare workers have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [27–29] and suicidal ideation [16, 30, 31].”

“…& Sharma, 2020), threats of viral contagion (Di Giuseppe et al., 2021; Kannampallil et al., 2020), disturbances in work-life balance (Dyal et al., 2022; Kancherla et al., 2020), higher administrative burdens (Laboe et al., 2021), and the absence of clear sanitary guidelines (Dagens et al., 2020).”

“37 Moral injury manifests as symptoms of self-guilt, self-blame, self-denial, anger, and sadness.”

“Health care professionals have faced a great amount of stress during the pandemic with having to work over time and this has to lead to an increase in suicide rates [29].”

“The COVID-19 pandemic may increase the risk of suicidal ideation and behavior, where suicidality related to COVID-19 may be due to the hardships imposed by the pandemic, including economic privation, side effects of the quarantine and social isolation, reduced access to general medical and mental health care, and the…”

“Significant worsening of mental disorders including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorders, and suicide in physicians was also noted during the COVID-19 pandemic.(26,27) As systematically collected data from COVID-19 treatment centers of LMICs is important in addressing the gap, our prospective cohort was…”

“Frontline workers, including physicians, have been found to be at a higher risk for suicide during the pandemic as well [14].”

“The increased stress of COVID-19, combined with the increased workload, administrative tasks, and increased charting in recent years, may contribute to the already high rates of burnout, suicide, and suicidal ideation [7].”

“The rate of suicidal ideation among physicians is almost twice the general population pre-COVID-19 (7.2% vs. 4%), and these rates are predicted to climb due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with increased suicides among healthcare workers expected based on admittedly limited data [10, 11]”

“[12] In addition, the Omicron greatly affected the mental health of health care providers, medical staff, and medical specialties worldwide.[13,14] On the other hand, posttraumatic stress disorder traumatic events involve a wide range of life-threatening experiences that induce different symptoms such as hyperarousal,…”

“COVID-19 also resulted in living in isolation and quarantine leading to an increase in psychiatric symptoms and complications [6].”

“As illustrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, a population with already-elevated risks of depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide completion will further worsen in an environment of high acuity and tenuous support (Laboe et al. 2021).”

“This issue becomes even more critical with studies indicating a correlation between suicidal behavior [10] and the occurrence of COVID-19 among university students showing sensitivity (0.81) and specificity (0.81) using SVM model.”

“4%), with suicide as the only cause of death that is higher in physicians than non-physicians [29].”