Suicide and Caregivers

The CDC broke down suicide rates by occupation and found among females, healthcare practitioners are in the top three highest rates. A study out of the U.K. also shows what Americans are seeing which is female nurses are 23 percent more likely to commit suicide than women in general. Among American physicians, it’s no better. One doctor commits suicide every day which makes it the highest suicide rate of any profession. While statistics are not readily available, other caregivers must be considered as well, such as psychotherapists and clergy.

While statistics on suicide rates have been gathered and shared for decades, we continue to not have the right conversations to turn the tide.

Address the stress

Clinicians are stressed, but what are we really doing about it? Leaders need to truly take stress into account and start engaging their staff in a way that ease the work load and boost morale. Addressing the stress doesn’t just mean “talk it out.” Yes, we’ve created so many new technologies to help streamline our work flow, but in actuality many studies have found it’s having a negative impact on our mental and physical health. I believe technology can contribute to stress because it leaves care providers disconnected from those they are caring for and each other. We miss out on human interactions that often times remind the care provider about the “why” they choose the profession they did. We also need to keep moving and focus on our physical abilities as the American Nurses Association pointed out in its efforts to improve nurse well-being.

Confront the burnout

Are you actually talking about burnout in your office?

The American Medical Association acknowledges that if the idea of burnout isn’t discussed by those at the very top, staff won’t feel comfortable talking about it, contributing to the volcano of stress that leads to burnout. We need to acknowledge that burnout leads to a negative feeling of self-worth as you feel less accomplished, unable to keep up with your responsibilities and like you’re not making a difference which is the feeling that drives caregivers to do the jobs we do.

Mental illness exists

There’s this idea, especially among physicians, that being diagnosed with mental illness and sharing it with colleagues could negatively impact how you’re viewed by others and ultimately your career. How do we stop the stigma? While high-profile suicides shine light on the reality of mental illness, we’re not talking about how many are actually afflicted. Data from the World Health Organization points to one in four people. One in four. The numbers for caregiver suicides are high and we need to accept and talk about the fact that our fellow care provider could very well be struggling.

Leaders need to be proactive in streamlining workflows, while still engaging staff on a personal level, not just via email. These are the quick actions we can take in what will be and has been a long-term battle to improve the mental health of healthcare professionals.

Suicide Attempts

No complete count is kept of suicide attempts in the U.S.; however, each year the CDC gathers data from hospitals on non-fatal injuries from self-harm as well as survey data.

In 2015, 505,507 people visited a hospital for injuries due to self-harm. This number suggests that for every reported suicide death, approximately 11.4 people visit a hospital for self-harm related injuries. However, because of the way these data are collected, we are not able to distinguish intentional suicide attempts from non-intentional self-harm behaviors.

Based on the 2016 National Survey of Drug Use and Mental Health it is estimated that 0.5 percent of the adults aged 18 or older made at least one suicide attempt. This translates to approximately 1.3 million adults. Adult females reported a suicide attempt 1.2 times as often as males. Further breakdown by gender and race are not available.

Based on the 2015 Youth Risk Behaviors Survey, 8.6 percent of youth in grades 9-12 reported that they had made at least one suicide attempt in the past 12 months. Girls attempted twice as often as boys (11.6% vs. 5.5%) and teens of Hispanic origin reported the highest rate of attempt (11.3%), especially Hispanic females (15.1%) when compared with white students (6.8%) and White females (9.8%). Approximately 2.8 percent reported making a suicide attempt that required treatment by a doctor or nurse. For those requiring treatment, rates were highest for Hispanic students with black males (4.0%) and Hispanic males (2.9%) having higher rates than white male (0.9%) students.

When it comes to suicide and suicide attempts there are rate differences depending on demographic characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity and race. Nonetheless, suicide occurs in all demographic groups.

Facts About Suicide in the US

?         The annual age-adjusted suicide rate is 13.42 per 100,000 individuals. 44,965 Americans die by suicide every year.

?         Men die by suicide 3.53x more often than women.

?         On average, there are 123 suicides per day.

?         White males accounted for 7 of 10 suicides in 2016.

?         Firearms account for 51% of all suicides in 2016.

?         The rate of suicide is highest in middle age — white men in particular.

?         Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the USA

?         For every suicide, there were 25 attempts.