National Physician Suicide Awareness Day encourages action to support mental health, well-being and help-seeking
Providence’s Well Being Trust is joining organizations nationwide in supporting National Physician Suicide Awareness Day (NPSAD) on September 17 by raising awareness, sharing resources, and advancing solutions that support physician well-being.
NPSAD is a reminder and call to action to understand the underlying barriers to mental health care for physicians and create open dialogue that can help those in distress seek mental health care.
73 percent of physicians say stigma remains a barrier to mental health care
Physicians face some of the highest suicide rates of any profession, and many continue to experience burnout, stigma and barriers to care. While there are some signs of improvement, the overall state of well-being remains low with residents and medical students reporting an even lower state of well-being.
According to a recent well-being survey from The Physicians Foundation, 73 percent of physicians believe there is stigma surrounding mental health and seeking mental health care among physicians, underscoring the importance of continuing to normalize conversations about well-being and connect physicians with meaningful support.
Reducing stigma and normalizing conversations
Prevention starts with recognizing warning signs, normalizing conversations about mental health and making sure resources are easy to find before a crisis occurs.
“Providence Well Being Trust is proud to support National Physician Suicide Awareness Day and to stand with organizations across the country working to reduce stigma, strengthen access to care and create environments where physicians can seek help early and without fear,” said Dr. Arpan Waghry, CEO, Providence’s Well Being Trust.
“At Providence, we are working to support physician mental health and well-being through peer-to-peer support, expanded access to virtual mental health care and developing solutions that help remove barriers to care for health care workers.”
The Physicians Foundation outlines seven actions to help support physician mental health and well-being:
- Learn the Vital Signs by recognizing changes in behavior, withdrawal, distress or other signs that a physician may need support.
- Encourage mental health reflection by inviting physicians to pause, assess their well-being and seek help when needed.
- Share suicide prevention resources: View curated list of resources .
- Prepare before a moment of crisis by creating a personal crisis plan and knowing warning signs and who to call for support.
- Check in with a physician.
- Remove intrusive mental health questions from licensing, credentialing and other applications that may discourage care-seeking.
- Create a culture of well-being by reducing stigma, addressing burnout and making mental health support part of everyday practice.
Learn more about confidential resources
- Physician Support Line: Free, confidential and no appointment necessary for physicians and American medical students. Call 1-888-409-0141.
- If you are in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (available 24/7).
