Physician Suicide Awareness: Getting Help Helps

September 17 is National Physician Suicide Awareness Day.

Physician suicide is one of the reasons I have been dedicated to physician wellness for decades.

The work we do as physicians is beyond hard. And the conditions of modern medicine can make it even harder—especially when we’re carrying stress, moral distress, exhaustion, and loneliness without adequate support.

Yes, we signed up for medicine knowing it would be demanding.

What most of us didn’t fully understand is how our trained physician thought patterns—helpful in emergencies and diagnosis—can also make us more susceptible to burnout, relationship distress, depression, and despair when the system is unsustainable and we’re depleted.

The problem isn’t weakness. It’s culture.

In medical culture, self-care is often framed as selfish.

Needing help is framed as weakness.

Many physicians suffer and struggle in silence.

This is why Pause & Presence holds a specific intention to support those who are:

“successful on the surface yet struggle underneath.”

Too many of us—physicians or not—struggle underneath.

Let’s change the culture around help-seeking and mental health.

Let’s support wellness as avalue, not a problem.

Let’s support each other with kindness and unconditional support around our perceived weaknesses.

Let’s encourage help-seeking behavior and normalize being human.

Mindfulness and coaching help—but they are not the only help

They are powerful tools to help ease and prevent:

burnout
exhaustion
depression
anxiety
overwhelm
relationship distress

For physicians—and everyone else.

Sometimes, more help is needed. There is no shame in reaching out for any and all kinds of support.

Paraphrasing The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse:

When have you been strongest? When you asked for help.

In coach training, we receive suicide awareness training. It’s different from the medical model in one important way:

Sometimes being there in the moment as a fellow human—present, calm, connected—is a key intervention.

Let’s do that for each other.

Mental health struggles are everywhere—in loved ones and colleagues whether they show outwardly or not.

Let’s stop the stigma. Let’s encourage help-seeking.

Let’s show up with mindful loving kindness:

noticing
awareness
generosity
patience
non-judgment
compassion
attention
intention

If you or someone you know is in crisis please seek urgent help right now:

• Call or text 988 (U.S. Suicide & Crisis Lifeline)

• If you’re outside the U.S., use your local emergency number or a local crisis line

• If this is an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department

If you’re a physician and would rather reach a physician-specific resource, the Physician Support Line exists for this purpose (U.S.).

You deserve support.

If you haven’t listened to this month’s Mindful Healers Podcast episode “Getting Help Helps,” I invite you to.

In it, we talk about common barriers in our minds to getting help—and why asking for help is a demonstration of strength.

Reaching out is the first step. Let’s be there for each other.