Mental Illness, Moral Injury, and Medicine

When I first wrote about experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts in residency, I knew that I was tapping into a widespread, taboo subject among physicians. But I did not appreciate the depth of the suffering I would encounter, or how many people I would connect with in training, in school, and in practice across the country.

On this page, I have some of my work on this topic. I hope that this will be a site for those in distress, but also for their loved ones, employers, and mentors who want to do better. Physicians have among the highest suicide rates of any profession, nearly double the general population. Silence is deadly. I am so grateful that so many are now committed to shattering it.

Academic Articles

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Depression and Suicide: Occupational Hazards of Practicing Medicine

From the Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management

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Supporting Residents through Mental Health Crises

From the Society for General Internal Medicine Forum

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ACGME Sends Mixed Messages on Welnness

By Elisabeth Poorman, MD and Rick Pels, MD in the Society for General Internal Medicine Forum

Committee for Interns and Residents Keynote Speech, 2018

Depression and suicide are an occupational hazard of medical training. Why do 2 in 5 residents experience major depression in the first year of medical training? Why are medical students so afraid to get help when one in ten reports recent suicidial ideation?

Podcasts

Press

Depression among doctors is more common than we may think, and it starts in medical school, says primary care physician Elisabeth Poorman. Dr. Poorman joined THINK to talk about the "cloud of silence" around mental illness in medicine and how it's a byproduct of a dysfunctional healthcare system.