“Suicides of Psychologists and Other Health Professionals: National Violent Death Reporting System Data, 2003–152018”, 2022-04-07 ():
This study advances knowledge regarding rates of suicide among psychologists by using a national database. 2003–152018, 159 psychologists died by suicide, with males comprising 64% of decedents. In 2018, psychologist suicide deaths were estimated to account for 4.9% of all suicides among selected health professions. Results highlight the need to improve suicide prevention efforts in psychologists, mental health, and other health professionals
What is it about? We studied the suicides of psychologists and other health professionals based on data from the CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System. For psychologists and selected health professions, ie. physicians, psychiatrists, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, dentists, social workers, and veterinarians, we report the number of suicide decedents 2003–152018. For psychologists, we summarize the number of suicides reported per year, demographics of decedents, region, circumstances and methods. We also examine rates of suicide for these professions in 2018 by comparing the number of deaths by suicide with estimates of the workforce for each profession.
Why is it important? Whereas there has been increasing interest in the wellbeing of health professionals, relatively little is known about the suicides of health professionals. Exploration of the epidemiology of suicide in health professions is one step toward developing greater awareness of factors that may contribute to incidence. Hopefully greater understanding of these trends will be instructive in efforts to decrease the incidence of suicides of health professionals.
Suicide is a prevalent problem among health professionals, with suicide rates often described as exceeding that of the general population. The literature addressing suicide of psychologists is limited, including its epidemiological estimates.
This study explored suicide rates in psychologists by examining the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data set of US violent deaths. Data were examined from participating states 2003–152018. Trends in suicide deaths longitudinally were examined. Suicide decedents were characterized by examining demographics, region of residence, method of suicide, mental health, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behavior histories. Psychologists’ suicide rates are compared to those of other health professionals. Since its inception, the NVDRS identified 159 cases of psychologist suicide.
Males comprised 64% of decedents. Average age was 56.3 years. Factors, circumstances, and trends related to psychologist suicides are presented. In 2018, psychologist suicide deaths were estimated to account for 4.9% of suicides among 10 selected health professions.
As the NVDRS expands to include data from all 50 states, it will become increasingly valuable in delineating the epidemiology of suicide for psychologists and other health professionals and designing prevention strategies.
[Keywords: psychologist, suicide, violent death, health professionals, mental health]
…Mental Illness of Decedents: Table 3 presents decedents’ mental health problems and diagnoses. Totals for these categories can exceed the total entries due to some decedents’ multiple mental health problems or diagnoses. More than half of decedents reportedly had mental health problems (n = 87; 55%). Of those, 69 (43%) reportedly had current mental health treatment, while 74 (47%) had mental health treatment histories. The most common diagnoses were depression/dysthymia (n = 68; 43%) and anxiety (n = 19; 12%). Fewer were reported to have had alcohol (n = 13; 8%) or other substance use (n = 12; 8%) problems.