Coolpicture/Getty Images/STOCK(NEW YORK) Even as healthcare professionals battle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 300 Americans dying each day on average from the virus, doctors nationwide are raising awareness about the growing epidemic of suicide within their ranks. Saturday, Sept. 17, is National Physician Suicide Awareness Day. It's a day marking a sobering fact: physicians have a higher suicide rate than the general population, according to an article published in the science journal PLOS One. Doctors dying by suicide means that patients lose good physicians. The growing number of suicides is a public health crisis, health professionals say. According to a 2019 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, depressed physicians may also commit more medical mistakes. Many physicians are hesitant to seek treatment due to the stigma and fear of losing their jobs. "It's a culture that rewards toughness" and "the emphasis is on caring
National Physician Suicide Awareness Day marks a sobering statistic physicians have a higher suicide rate than the general population, according to one study.
Coolpicture/Getty Images/STOCK(NEW YORK) Even as healthcare professionals battle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 300 Americans dying each day on average from the virus, doctors nationwide are raising awareness about the growing epidemic of suicide within their ranks. Saturday, Sept. 17, is National Physician Suicide Awareness Day. It's a day marking a sobering fact: