Why Physicians Die by Suicide: Lessons Learned from Their Families and Others Who Cared, Paperback

Physicians are known to be a group of professionals who are at risk of taking their own lives. In this easy-to-read book, Dr. Michael Myers, a psychiatrist and specialist in physician health, attempts to explain the mystery of why some doctors, despite their calling and the adoration of their families, patients, students and colleagues, perish by suicide. He combines the powerful and gripping insights of dozens of bereaved people whom he interviewed for this project with disguised stories from his decades long clinical practice to shed some light on this national tragedy.

The stigma attached to mental illness in doctors is ubiquitous and pernicious - and, because untreated illness is one of the major drivers to suicide, Dr. Myers argues that stigma must be fought with urgency and might. He makes across-the-board recommendations in an effort to prevent suicide in physicians and concludes that everyone has a role to play in saving a doctor's life. This is a book about heartbreak, loss, prevailing, growth, passion and hope. It's a book for doctors themselves, their families, those who train them, those who treat them and those who care about them.

About the Author:

Dr. Myers is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Immediate Past Vice-Chair Education and Director of Training in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. He is also a recent past President of the New York City Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

He is the author or co-author of seven previous books, including Touched by Suicide: Hope and Healing after Loss (with Carla Fine) and The Physician as Patient: A Clinical Handbook for Mental Health Professionals (with Glen Gabbard, MD). He is a specialist in physician health.