A recent analysis of data from 20 countries, published in The BMJ, has revealed that female doctors are 76 per cent significantly more likely to take their own lives than women in the general population. An expert partially attributed these higher suicide rates to challenges such as misogyny, bullying, sexual harassment, and the gender pay gap.

Researchers noted that while suicide rates among doctors have declined over time and the risk varies across different countries and regions, the findings underscore the ongoing need for further research and prevention efforts.

Urgent attention from researchers, health leaders & policy makers is needed to address the persistently high rates of suicide among female doctors compared to general population.

NEW multi-national study & editorial @bmj_latest 👇

Doctors and suicide https://t.co/1HhKdUNvc6

— Jocalyn Clark (@jocalynclark) August 22, 2024

To explore this issue, researchers from the University of Vienna in Austria analysed observational studies published between 1960 and 2024. These studies compared suicide rates among doctors with those in the general population.

Additionally, the study found that male physicians have an 81 per cent higher suicide rate compared to other professionals with similar socio-economic status. The report also pointed out that one doctor dies by suicide each day in the US, and approximately one doctor every 10 days in the UK.

According to The Independent, Dame Professor Clare Gerada, patron of Doctors in Distress, a UK charity supporting healthcare workers, shared: “Men always have a higher suicide rate than women—except for with doctors, it is around the same for men and women.”

Professor Gerada also suggested that more female doctors take their own lives compared to women in the general population because of the job’s distressing nature.

“Both men and women have problems with the job, it is a highly stressful job,” she added. “There is lots of emotional baggage. You deal with death and suffering. But the difference with women is they have two jobs. They tend to be carers, whether that is for children or parents.”

The expert also pointed to “women having to grapple with bullying, sexism, the gender pay gap, and sexual harassment” as another factor.

Gerada continued: “At first it was thought women had a higher rate of suicides because there were fewer of us so we were isolated but it has stayed high despite women now making up a significant amount of the workplace.”

Even though doctors generally have many “protective factors” that should reduce their suicide risk, such as lower rates of drug and alcohol problems, stable housing, and well-paid jobs, it’s evident that other elements are still greatly impacting mental health stability.

Interestingly, a survey described as a “#MeToo movement for surgery” revealed that nearly one in three female surgeons working in the NHS have been sexually assaulted in the past five years. According to the findings, 30 per cent of female surgeons reported experiencing sexual assault, 29 per cent had encountered unwanted physical advances at work, over 40 per cent received unsolicited comments about their bodies, and 38 per cent experienced sexual “banter” in the workplace.