A physician just wrote me:

“I know people try to prevent suicide at all costs, but on the flip side if someone is just suffering so much everyday, couldn’t it be considered the lesser of two evils? Everyone says it’s such a selfish act, but maybe the person needs to be selfish to get out of pain. How long is a person supposed to suffer? What type of life is it to sit around and suffer?”

I’ve been running a doctor suicide helpline for more than a decade and have spent thousands of hours speaking to suicidal doctors. Here’s my advice to you:

1) Suicide may be a good option for terminally ill.  I’ve helped my terminally ill patients (with physical illness and less than 6 months to live) die by suicide. I am not against suicide for terminal illness.

2) Mental illness is rampant and poorly treated in our society. Even physicians are not receiving proper comprehensive help for mental illness. Most doctor who seek helps are medicated with conventional drugs. They’ve not been offered such interventions as spiritual therapies, psychedelic ceremonies, or proper curated peer support.

3) Many (falsely) believe they have treatment-resistant depression. Just because allopathic interventions fail does not mean one’s mental illness is resistant to complementary and alternative therapies. Integrative psychiatrists know that rewiring our neural networks is possible. Are you working with the right psychiatrist? Some offer a holistic and “sacred” approach to ECT and EMDR. Most physician-patients are unaware of all their options—and have no idea how to find reputable and safe non-standard therapies for these unknown solutions.

One doctor shares:

“The Sacramental use of psilocybin or other Entheogens was the most effective approach for me. Ceremonial use of these medicines brings in the wisdom of age-old traditions that use these Medicines to help us reconnect to ourselves, not as a solution for any particular malady but as a way to return to balance and in turn, finding deeper understanding, improvement or resolution of our depression.”

4) First-line treatment should be curated peer support. I suggest highly targeted peer support as the foundation of any suicide prevention plan. Isolation and loneliness is immediately ameliorated in a properly facilitated group with similar emotional wounds. I’ve been leading physician peer support groups for years. Share your story. Don’t suppress your tears. Most of the time, what is needed is human interaction. One surgeon reported: “Spending two hours with you all was more helpful than any therapist I’ve seen, anything they did on inpatient psych, any help I’ve gotten yet.”

5) Suicide is often a failure of community. When suffering is individually pathologized, the person is blamed for their condition. When we recognize that the “illness” is a normal reaction to an abnormal or traumatic situation, the wisdom of the individual’s psychological response finally makes sense. Recognizing societal influences and community/family dysfunction that lead to suicidal thinking is crucial. Identifying ACES (Adverse Childhood Events) can help us identify the family-of origin-core wound. Reference: Did your wounded child choose your career?

6) Defining the core wound is key. Most suicides are a culmination of many factors poorly managed over years. Discovering the origin story or genesis of the core wound allows us to successfully address the primary issue (versus just dealing with the sequelae of the untreated core wound). If you feel detached from your inner core, find a hobby that brings you pleasure as a way to find yourself again. Sometimes our core wound is grief for the a loss of self or self image.

7) Suicide is an occupational hazard of the medical profession. Physicians are dying by suicide triple the rate of their patients. Why? We’re groomed in an atmosphere of self-betrayal and self-abuse. Hazardous working conditions lead to destruction of our own health and personal relationships with family. Physicians are placed on a pedestal until we can no longer perform—then we are vilified. We are not allowed to be human and are disconnected from our feelings, emotions, and spiritual core. Reference: Physician Betrayal: How Our Heroes Become Villains.

8) We are spiritual beings living a finite human experience. Yet physicians are cut off from our humanity and untethered from our souls. Shells of our former selves just going through the motions with no passion or zest for life—a direct result of the methodical dehumanization of medical education and practice. I’ve interviewed many physicians who have survived their suicide attempts. All are grateful that they are still here and regret the desperate decision they made in a time of crisis.

9) I believe suicidal physicians are not terminally ill. When offered holistic interventions and removed from hazardous working conditions, most all physicians heal quickly. Doctors must be receptive to ALL therapies and receive them in a structured (not haphazard) fashion. Doctors have curable mental health conditions that often began in childhood and were exacerbated by medical training and practice.

One wise physician (who lost her own physician husband to suicide) shares:

“I consider no disease terminal until you think so—and self motivation is the key what you want to do with your life. If you think you will get better—you will. Spirituality says the same. You become what you believe you want to be.”

10) Suicide is a terrible option for a curable condition.

Need to talk? Contact Dr. Wible.