Approaching Physician Suicide as a Problem Requiring Healthcare System Change

ACP recognizes Physician Suicide as a complex problem requiring system change and has compiled an annotated list of resources on various types of programs and research in this area. 

Suicide Awareness

While overall research and data on this subject remains sparse, the most consistent finding is a lack of agreement amongst experts, researchers, and physician leaders on the causes of physician suicide, how to report it, and what can be done to prevent it. Although this is a complex topic that cannot be distilled to simple binary debates, there continues to be discussion around the importance of pre-existing conditions/personal responsibility versus systemic issues, privacy concerns, lack of accurate data and the demand for more time and resources devoted to this topic. One suggestion was to encourage reporting of physician suicides to the CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) to build a more accurate and robust dataset.

In addition to these concerns, there has been positive progress on the advocacy front, such as The Dr.  Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act. It is legislation supporting health workers’ mental  health and wellbeing and must be reauthorized by Congress so that its programs, including developing  suicide prevention resources tailored to the unique working conditions of health workers; supporting  evidence-informed programs to reduce health worker burnout and improve working conditions; and  providing innovative training materials for healthcare leaders to address the specific operational factors  and burdens driving burnout of their workforce can continue.  

What ACP is Doing  

ACP has been a strong voice advocating for the need to reduce stigma and help physicians know they are not alone. ACP’s efforts include: 

Advocating for System Change

National Partnerships 

Support for Physicians 

Educational Resources 

  • Micro-learnings, covering topics such as:
    • Building support networks
    • Promoting psychological safety
    • Fostering belonging in communities
    • Peer coaching to support colleagues in need

Efforts to decrease burnout and prevent physician suicide are built into these ACP products and services, yet there is always an opportunity to find ways to highlight and better articulate those connections to ACP members. ACP has and will continue to advocate for healthy workplace conditions for physicians and their teams to reduce burnout, prevent suicidal behaviors and ideations, and increase overall physician well-being and professional fulfillment.  

Other Organizations Supporting Suicide Prevention and Research  

National Physician Suicide Awareness Day (NPSADay/September 17) is a reminder and call to action. Its goal is to help make time to talk—and to act—so physicians’ struggles don’t become mental health emergencies. The focus is to help prevent physician suicide by learning the signs, starting conversations, removing intrusive mental health questions from applications and sharing the resources that can help those in distress seek mental health care. Shareable Graphics for Suicide Awareness and Prevention 

Additional Information

Noteworthy Research