Surgeons more likely to harbor suicidal thoughts, report says

Surgeons more likely to harbor suicidal thoughts

A new study says that surgeons are more prone to suicidal thoughts than the average person due to burnout, medical errors and depression.

The study, published in this month's issue of Archives of Surgery, showed that 6 percent of 8,000 surgeons surveyed said they contemplated suicide recently. The rate jumped to 16 percent among those who just committed a serious medical mistake.

According to the report funded by the American College of Surgeons, just 25 percent of those who thought of killing themselves sought professional mental help. This compares to previous studies which show that about 3 percent of the public contemplate suicide and 44 percent seek treatment.

"Surgeons reported a great deal of concern about potential repercussions for their license to practice medicine," said chief author Dr. Tait Shanafelt of the Mayo Clinic. The report said many surgeons who are having suicidal thoughts self-medicate with anti-depressants.

The survey was done via e-mail and contained questions such as if the surgeon thought about  committing suicide in the past year. But they were not asked about specific attempts. The researchers said about half of all individuals who think about killing themselves follow through with an attempt.

Among the recent factors of the higher likelihood of suicidal thoughts among surgeons that were cited were job burnout, depression, medical errors and partly, being divorced, childless, or unmarried.

The surgeons who participated in the study clocked 60 hours weekly on average. About 40 percent reported burnout while 30 percent showed signs of being depressed. Those who worked less than 40 hours a week were least likely to have suicidal thoughts.

Posted by George Daniels on Tuesday January 18 2011, 1:55 AM EDT. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0