The mental health crisis among doctors is a problem for patients
Posted on AllSides October 25th, 2023
From The Left
ANALYSIS
Twice a week, Boston-area psychiatrist Elissa Ely volunteers at a US anonymous help line for physicians in crisis. The calls she takes are often from people in deep distress — physicians having panic attacks, abusing substances or alcohol, facing divorce or alienation from family and friends. A typical call, she said, could be from “an ER doctor who vomits before she goes in for her shifts; despair and depression; suicidality.”
But despite her callers’ high levels of mental distress, they’re often very resistant to her suggestions that they seek mental...