No One Should Care Alone …
“Why is it important to swim with a buddy?” Our local YMCA swim instructor
One of the inspirations for the PeerRx program is the YMCA swimming program and in particular, their “buddy system” for swimmers. I learned to swim at the “Y”, and prior to the pandemic, I was a regular fixture at our local branch. Before a children’s swimming class gets in the pool, our local instructor always asks the children, “Why is it important to swim with a buddy.” The most common answer is an enthusiastic “So somebody is watching out for you!” and often that is followed by a 2nd answer, “Because it’s more fun!” There is great wisdom in both these answers.
On January 22nd Medscape released the results of their annual “National Physician Burnout and Suicide Report.” They chose to title this one “Death by 1,000 Cuts” which was perhaps a bit dark but certainly caught my attention. However, what really caught my attention was some of the results from the survey. Beyond the ongoing and tragic epidemic of professional burnout (42%), there were some other numbers that were quite notable and very relevant to the PeerRxMed movement. The first was the question “How do you cope with burnout?” The same number of physicians, 43%, reported they “isolate myself from others” as those who said they “talk with family members/close friends.”
But it gets worse. To the question “Have you ever felt suicidal or attempted suicide?”, 13% of the more than 12,000 respondents said, “I’ve had thoughts of suicide but I have not attempted suicide” and 5% indicated they preferred not to answer, which one would not generally do if the answer was no. And to the follow-up question, “Whom did you tell about your thoughts of suicide?”, more respondents answered “none of the above” than answered “a friend or colleague.
And once again we must ask, “What’s up with this!?” Medscape doesn’t explore that question, but my own experience and the evidence would say it is because our bias toward independence (and isolation) is built into the culture of medicine – it’s what we’re selected to do, trained to do, socialized to do, programmed to do, expected to do. In many ways, it’s our “badge of honor” – that somehow as long as we “armor-up” we are magically invulnerable to the tragedy and suffering we’re surround by each day.
PeerRx was created to help break down the many barriers that the culture of medicine has created which interfere with our fundamental human need to connect with each other. The need during the pandemic has been immense, but it was here before the pandemic and will be here after. I know you care about those you work with, so check in with them to be sure none of them are trying to “swim” without a buddy. Not only are they at greater risk for drowning, but they’re also missing out on a lot of fun. No one should care alone.
If you’d like to review the results that Medscape has shared from the survey, here’s the link:
Medscape 2021 Physician Burnout and Suicide Survey