Physician Burnout and Mental Health

Physicians writing on KevinMD about burnout, moral injury, depression, and suicide in medicine: what causes burnout and whether the word fits, resilience training and why physicians distrust it, who leaves and why, the fear of seeking help and the licensing questions behind it, what physicians say actually helps, and, on the patient side, psychiatry, access to care, and the arguments over diagnosis and treatment. Three maintained records draw on this archive: Physician burnout: what physicians say, in their own words, Physician suicide: what physicians say, in their own words, and Mental health: what psychiatrists and physicians say, in their own words.

Who will care for the caregivers?

Susan Shannon, RN

Conditions and Diseases

May 2, 2020

Coronavirus is not going away anytime soon. Health care workers are already exhausted. How will the U.S. maintain a medical workforce over the long term? There is no plan in place.

Hospitals started reorganizing and developing virus infection protocols weeks ago. Most health care workers have been in PPE for weeks. They are wearing masks, goggles, face shields, gloves for their whole shift. Many nurses work twelve-hour shifts. Anxiety levels are …

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Who will care for the caregivers?

8 reasons why people ignore and defy COVID-19 safeguards

Karen R. Koenig, MEd, LCSW

Conditions and Diseases

May 1, 2020

If you’re amazed that people are still shaking hands, waltzing around mask-free in public, and rushing off to hair salons and beaches in some states, learn to think like a therapist. Understanding the underlying motivations of people who ignore and defy COVID-19 precautions will help you relate more effectively to those in your own life.

Recently, I was pushing my shopping cart down the supermarket aisle in the direction that the …

To combat COVID-19, we endanger our doctors in training

Gali Hashmonay, MD

Physician

April 30, 2020

American hospitals are quickly running out of resources during this devastating time. It’s not simply a lack of protective equipment and COVID-19 testing – health care workers are rapidly becoming exposed, which limits their ability to care for patients. One particularly vulnerable resource in danger of being exhausted: doctors in training. Historically, the American health care system has leaned on resident physicians. For little pay, resident physicians work strenuous, long …

The unsettling result of a negative coronavirus test

Jenny Berz, PhD

Conditions and Diseases

April 30, 2020

As a psychologist, I have long been aware of some of the emotional impacts that illnesses like COVID-19 can have on individuals and families. I never imagined that I would experience some of these impacts directly. Furthermore, I never could have guessed what it would feel like to be told I tested negative for COVID-19 when I was feverish and fighting for air at the height of the pandemic.

I started …

The unspoken death toll of COVID-19: suicide

Amalia Londono Tobon, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 30, 2020

Today I woke up to the news that a fellow physician died by suicide. As I read the article, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. My eyes watered. They still do, as I write this piece. Although I did not personally know Dr. Lorna M. Breen, an ER doctor in New York City, the …

Why you should support physician health plans

Virginia E. Hall, MD

Physician

April 30, 2020

Some physicians have opined their belief that physician health plans (PHP) are contributing to the increasing physician suicidality. These beliefs have been used to attack PHPs and unfortunately, steer those in need to other resources or even have those in need not getting help.

Blaming the PHP for suicide is like blaming the physician who is unable to cure his or her patient of their stage IV cancer because of the …

Lockdown panic syndrome, and how to fix it

Craig M. Wax, DO and Robert Emmons, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 30, 2020

The worldwide panic over COVID-19, and the heavy-handed government response to it, has generated a wide range of reaction among patients. As a family physician and a psychiatrist, we have seen some patients adapting well. On the other hand, many feel anxious over the thought of getting the illness or experience other negative emotional responses resulting from the lockdown. Invasive public policy intervention always comes with a host of unanticipated …

A doctor’s pro wrestler husband

Raymond Abbott

Conditions and Diseases

April 29, 2020

My father would have liked to know Dr. Young’s husband, Tad. Tad is a professional wrestler, the world-class wrestling kind, complete with lots of belts and awards (or so I want to believe). My father, he’s been dead a long time. He liked both boxing and wrestling, probably wrestling more.

My mother liked boxing, but maybe because my father did. It was in the years when there were boxers like Jake …

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A doctor’s pro wrestler husband

A hidden alcohol problem: a social worker’s story

Raymond Abbott

Conditions and Diseases

April 24, 2020

Philomena was the youngest child in a large Irish family. She grew up in a place called Kilquane, about ten miles from Dingle town in the Republic of Ireland. At about age three or four, she contracted measles, which settled in one eye, and that eye had to be surgically removed. That surgery was a botch job, and the artificial eye she was given never fit properly. All of this …

Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, we must not neglect the needs of those with mental illness

Michael Ziffra, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 17, 2020

“I’m in a constant state of fear.”

“I have nothing to look forward to now.”

“I don’t know when my life will go back to normal.”

As a psychiatrist practicing in a busy urban academic medical center, I have started to see the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on individuals’ mental health. Although some patients primarily worry about the virus itself, I have been more struck by the emotional distress associated …

We must care about our doctors. Especially now.

Peggy A. Rothbaum, PhD

Physician

April 16, 2020

We are all traumatized by the unfathomable devastation caused by the coronavirus. What can we expect as a result of this national and worldwide trauma?

The trauma approach uses posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as a frame to understand trauma. PTSD is a normal reaction to abnormal situations, which can be ongoing, according to the American Psychological Association. It is normal, not abnormal or pathological, to feel emotions, even extreme ones, from …

6 ways to help your patients cope with anxiety from coronavirus

Dimitrios Tsatiris, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 15, 2020

As death tolls rise from the global spread of a novel coronavirus, I have observed an increase in anxiety among my patients.

I am writing this article to provide physicians with tips on how to help their patients cope with anxiety from the coronavirus.

1. Validate their anxiety

To some degree, an increase in anxiety is appropriate under the current circumstances. Anxiety increases when we are confronted with threats to our wellbeing. The …

Health care workers during the COVID-19 crisis: superheroes or human-heroes?

Veda N. Giri, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 14, 2020

This essay is for my colleagues. When I say “colleagues,” I am referring to all health care workers who are currently working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis or are engaging in patient care at any level. This might be an unconventional essay coming from a doctor, but I wanted to send out my thoughts and heartfelt wishes for the well-being of health care workers during this time. Health …

Stolen checks and maybe some forgiveness

Raymond Abbott

Conditions and Diseases

April 13, 2020

It took some getting used to in dealing with Mae. My main function soon became acting as her bookkeeper. Each month, I would write checks for her. She was illiterate, and signing her name was about all she could do.
Mae was a fairly ordinary looking lady past 50 by several years. But what was most striking about her was her mischievous personality — in short, she was a flirt.

I found …

During the pandemic, it’s OK to be a “good enough” parent

Shayla Sullivant, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 11, 2020

The social media posts exhaust me. I see parents with colorful schedules for children to abide by during this pandemic and others who have made a zillion fabric masks to donate. Meanwhile, I’m trying to test the technology to see patients from my new home “office” and train my children that they cannot join the visits (not successful so far). The constant barrage of emails notifying me how my children …

Be a little patient with people, and the rewards can be significant

Raymond Abbott

Conditions and Diseases

April 11, 2020

Correna is full of simplistic Henny Youngman-type one-liners (many of you readers, I understand, may never have heard of the comic, Henny Youngman, but no matter). But her one-liners are not particularly funny.

She might say as we drive along, “I am SOB,” (Stuck or broke) or “CRS,” (can’t remember shit), or “SOS,” Stuck on Stupid, and her favorite one, which has no initials is “The world is full of idiots, …

The crisis after COVID-19: Why doctors won’t get treatment

Candace Good, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 10, 2020

I’ve been telecommuting for two weeks, and I already feel like Bill Murray’s character in the film Groundhog Day. A college friend of mine had a term for this feeling—déjà movie. I ease into my day with the repetitive normalcy of feeding the dog and sitting with my coffee while I watch the news.

A lead story included pictures taken by Dr. Colleen Smith, a young doctor at Elmhurst Hospital in …

Should the telemedicine boom persist after the COVID-19 pandemic?

Steven Reidbord, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 9, 2020

It was 2013. High-tech entrepreneurs were excitedly “disrupting” industries, bringing goods and services closer to users. Uber replaced cabs, Kickstarter replaced investors, and telehealth companies offered convenient, at-home medical care over smartphone video. Why waste time going to an office or clinic, especially if you’re not feeling well? Why spend so much money? The physician’s physical examination had been oversold. It wasn’t really needed.

Psychotherapy never required a physical exam in …

Coronavirus is forcing us to confront addiction treatment paradoxes

Sara K. Zachman, MD, MPH

Conditions and Diseases

April 7, 2020

On March 19th, the federal government loosened regulations around methadone and buprenorphine, two medications used to treat opioid addiction. The change was triggered by the novel coronavirus and concerns that current practices would either contribute to its spread or restrict critical opioid addiction treatment.

For all the havoc the coronavirus is undoubtedly causing, it is also compelling us to examine our approach to these medications with a …

Even as a pediatrician, I didn’t realize stress started so young

Mary Wilde, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 5, 2020

Despite four years of medical school, three years of residency, and over a decade in practice, I was never taught the profound connection between high childhood stress and increased risk of chronic disease.

It was at a community event sponsored by our local school district that I first learned it, as I watched the documentary entitled Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope. Suddenly, the medical education I …