Content warning: This article discusses severe mental health concerns, triggers, and suicide. Click here to go straight to the Articles & Resources section.
After asking my personal & professional network if there were any topics they’d like to see me write about, I received one of the most heartbreaking messages. A former co-worker reached out to me suggesting that I discuss suicide amongst healthcare workers. Their spouse, who is a healthcare professional, had attempted suicide just a couple of days before. I have had such deep respect for these workers for as long as I can remember; so seeing how the pandemic has just skyrocketed the mental health struggles is painful. I’m not sure if my thoughts will help comfort my friend, but at least I can bring awareness to the issue & provide some ways we can help.
Healthcare workers have always been at a higher risk for depression, PTSD, & suicidal ideation simply due to the nature of their profession.
When I was reading more about this healthcare worker suicide epidemic, it was unfortunately not surprising to learn that healthcare workers have always been at a higher risk for depression, PTSD, & suicidal ideation simply due to the nature of their profession. Many of them, especially those on the frontlines like emergency departments & rural clinics, are around crisis & triggering events daily. I don’t think anything can prepare you for this constant mental and emotional beating, even if you know it’s part of the job. And now we have studies showing significant increases in depression, anxiety, insomnia, & PTSD rates in healthcare workers globally during this pandemic.
I don’t have a lot of answers. But many experts are struggling with how to address the healthcare suicide increase, so it just shows that we’re all in this struggle together. I’ll get into why healthcare workers are at such a high risk for suicide a little bit & then provide some suggestions of what we can do to help.
Why are healthcare workers at such high risk right now?
As I mentioned earlier, the proximity to crisis & triggering events is a big reason for the mental health struggles healthcare workers face daily. And that’s just one facet of having such a high-demand job. There is a mental and emotional barrage that most people don’t ever experience; and if we (meaning non-healthcare workers) do, it’s temporary. Our healthcare workers don’t really get that reprieve & opportunity to step back to recover from the high stress. Introduce a pandemic & now you have exacerbated everything. There are more patients to care for, more regulations to deal with, & a world that none of us have experienced bringing political & social movements into everyday life.
This is really uncomfortable, but it’s something I never would have considered before researching this topic. Many healthcare workers have access to tools to facilitate suicide more than laypersons. Through their experience helping others, they’re knowledgeable of methods & how others have failed or succeeded. In fact, healthcare workers are usually more successful with their attempts than the rest of the population & are more likely to use medications in their attempts.
“It’s not that I wanted to die per se. I just wanted all of it to stop: the crying, the racing thoughts.” - Celia Nieto, ICU nurse after losing 2 collegues to suicide
Unfortunately, the last reason I want to discuss is something we see across the board still - the stigma of mental health struggles. In the healthcare world, that fear of failure can put unsustainable pressure on someone. And in an industry that relies on trust so heavily, you can see why the perception that you can’t perform your role safely can be devastating. Again- unsustainable pressure. So not only do healthcare workers have to live with mental health challenges inherent to their profession, but they may also have this constant fear that someone may find out & impact their career. I cannot imagine.
What can we do to help?
Get vaccinated
This may seem obvious, but I’m gonna say the first thing you can do is get vaccinated if you haven’t already & you’re able to. The surge in cases right now is, once again, overwhelming our healthcare industry globally. Full emergency departments mean fewer resources for non-covid healthcare needs. And it has a cascading effect that is setting us all up for ongoing problems for years to come.
Talk
The next thing we can do to help is to talk to our friends & family members that are in healthcare. We can help them identify red flags before they may have even noticed they need help. Some things to look for are feelings of extreme guilt, withdrawing from normal activities, and talk of purging highly valued items or what happens when they’re gone. These conversations may help them feel less isolated and encourage them to seek help.
As someone who has lost someone close to suicide, I want to be real with the fact that even if you recognize something & try to help someone, it is up to them to take those steps. It is not your fault if they attempt or succeed. It is not your responsibility to force them to get help. We cannot know what it’s like to be in the mind of that person who has reached the point where they feel like death is the only way to stop the pain.
If you’re not sure how to have these conversations, there are TONS of resources for you!
Click here to read an article from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention about how to identify signs & risks of suicidal behavior.
Click here for an article from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline about how to help others that are suicidal.
Click here for an article from the National Alliance on Mental Illness about warning signs & symptoms of mental illness.
Support & advocacy for healthcare workers
Did you know that, generally, frontline workers like firefighters and police officers automatically have to take time off after they’ve been involved with death on the job? This is not the norm for our healthcare workers, especially during this pandemic when there never seems to be enough staff. We can advocate for mental health time off for our healthcare professionals.
Although there have been improvements through the Federal Medical & Leave Act recently, we can do more. We can make mental health care more accessible. We can incentivize using the resources available today. We can encourage our legislators to invest in mental health & suicide prevention. If you’re not sure who to reach out to, there are sites like Contact My Politician that can help you. There are also organizations like the League of Women Voters that have local chapters you can get involved with.
We are all struggling with this pandemic. But healthcare workers are feeling it exponentially more than most. And they need support now. We’re losing people that have dedicated their talents & skills to help others because of the weight of everything suffocating them.
To healthcare workers: We see your struggle. There is absolutely nothing wrong or weak in reaching out for help. We want & need you in our lives. And if you can’t take that first step, there are so many of us that will take it with you. You are worthy.
Articles & Resources
Doctors die by suicide at twice the rate of everyone else. Here’s what we can do. by Marya J. Cohen, The Washington Post
Healthcare professional burnout, depression and suicide prevention from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Help Someone Else from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Nurses Are Dying From Suicide at Higher Rates by Matthew Davis, Ph.D. & Constance Guille, MD, WebMD
Nurses at High Risk for Suicide: ‘I Just Wanted All of It to Stop’ by Heather Tirado Gilligan, California Health Care Foundation
Risk factors, protective factors, and warning signs from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Suicide Rates Increase During COVID-19, Especially Among Healthcare Workers from Omnisure Risk Management Consulting
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