Study Finds Higher Suicide Rates Among Female Doctors Than Other Women

Mental health needs are sometimes stigmatized in the medical profession, researchers warn.

New data reveals that female doctors may face unique stressors in the healthcare industry that negatively impact their mental health, resulting in an increased risk that they may try to take their own lives.

According to findings published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry on February 26, female doctors commit suicide at much higher rates than women in the general population. This could be, in part, because of the difficult working conditions they may face in a field that is predominantly male led, the study indicates.

Previous research has already shown that doctors in general appear to have higher suicide rates than the general population. Other studies, including this one, have also found that doctors have higher rates of depression, mental health problems and legal problems.

In this latest study, a team of researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine examined suicide rates among doctors and compared those to the general public.

The researchers, led by Dr. Sidney Zisook, used data from the National Violent Death Reporting System for 30 states and Washington D.C. This included 448 U.S. doctors and more than 97,000 non-doctors from January 2017 to December 2021.

According to the findings, female doctors in the U.S. had suicide rates 53% higher than women in the general population who were not doctors. However, male doctors had a 16% lower suicide rate than men in the general population who were not doctors.

In addition, female doctors were 65% more likely to commit suicide than their male doctor counterparts, had a 35% higher risk of depression, a 66% higher risk of mental health problems, a 166% increased risk of job problems, and a 40% higher risk of legal problems.

Overall, doctor suicides were more likely when compared to suicides among the general public. Additionally, the researchers determined doctors had higher risk of suffering mental health and other problems before committing suicide. Researchers say those problems that may have contributed to their choice to commit suicide.

Suicides among doctors were 85% more likely to involve poisonings, and many doctors tested positive for poisons, cardiovascular agents, benzodiazepines, anxiolytics, hypnotics and drugs not prescribed for home use. They also had a four-fold higher risk of attempting to take their own lives with sharp instruments than the general populace, according to the data.

Despite the higher mental health risks this study indicates female doctors face, other data has indicated male doctors have much higher rates of malpractice claims compared to female doctors. However, female doctors generally earn significantly less than male doctors across their careers.

The research team concluded that there is a need to focus on unique stressors that may disproportionately affect women and may lead to increased risk of suicide compared to other environments. They also called for increased and targeted suicide prevention efforts in the healthcare space, but warned that mental healthcare is often stigmatized in medical environments, which could require anonymous screening and targeted treatment.