Citation

Maumus M. Ochsner J. 2022; 22(1): 3-5.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Ochsner Clinic)

DOI

10.31486/toj.22.0010

PMID

35355637

PMCID

PMC8929232

Abstract

The suicide rate among male physicians is 1.41 times higher than among the general male population. Among female physicians, the relative risk is even more pronounced--2.27 times greater than the general female population.1 I personally knew 4 physicians and 1 advanced practice provider who committed suicide. The causes of suicide are complex and include feelings of being overwhelmed, grief, isolation, lack of social support, discrimination, intolerable emotional pain, stress, and feeling trapped and hopeless.2 In psychological terms, suicide represents the buildup of uncontrolled toxic negative thinking, while gratitude represents the opposite end of the spectrum toward positivity.

Gratitude, the "tendency to recognize and respond with grateful emotion to the roles of other people's benevolence in the positive experiences and outcomes that one obtains,"3 is negatively correlated to suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts...

Language: en