This article is part of our September 2026 – Suicide Awareness Month series.
Don’t let fear keep another doctor silent. Donate to Physicians Anonymous Today
My career and life crashed to a halt after 19 years in clinical medicine. To the outside world, I was an affluent, respected physician: confident in my position, well-liked, and admired by society. Inside, I was drowning. At one point, I was suicidal with planning and intent.
Medical knowledge in the hands of a suicidal physician can be deadly. We know exact dosages, mechanisms, and physiological vulnerabilities. We spend years learning precisely how the human body fails… which means when a doctor decides to end their life, they rarely fail.
So why did I not seek help?
The answer lies in the culture of medicine itself. From day one of medical school, we are conditioned to believe that weakness is a luxury we cannot afford. We are trained to absorb trauma, skip sleep, ignore exhaustion, and prioritize everyone else’s survival above our own.
When distress inevitably takes root, shame follows close behind. But worse than the internal shame is the external risk. For a physician, seeking formal mental health treatment feels like putting a gun to your own career. Standard medical licensing boards, credentialing applications, and hospital privilege forms frequently ask invasive questions about mental health diagnoses. A paper trail can mean board investigations, mandatory monitoring, lost malpractice insurance, or the sudden end of a livelihood you spent half your life building.
So we suffer in silence. We keep the mask on during rounds, put on a brave face for our patients, and return to the quiet dark when the shift ends.
Studies show that more than half of healthcare practitioners meet the criteria for burnout or a mental health diagnosis, yet few seek treatment out of fear of what goes on their record. We are facing a crisis where the people dedicated to saving lives feel trapped in a system that makes seeking help unsafe.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Physicians Anonymous was founded on a simple, uncompromising principle: No name. No shame.
Peer support and coaching are not formal psychiatric treatment. They are off-the-record, confidential spaces where doctors can speak openly without fear of discovery or licensing repercussions. Removing the paper trail removes the single largest barrier preventing a doctor in distress from reaching out.
We have set an ambitious goal: to reduce physician suicide by 50% in 5 years. But to keep our peer-support groups and coaching accessible to every resident, student, and attending doctor who needs them, we need your help.
This Suicide Prevention Month, help us care for the people who care for you.
Your contribution directly funds free, confidential peer support meetings and coaching for clinicians navigating their darkest moments.
- $50 one time sponsors a seat for a struggling physician in a free, anonymous peer-support group meeting.
- $50 every month sponsors a monthly seat for a struggling physician in a free, anonymous peer-support group meeting.
- $150 one time provides one 1:1 off-the-record coaching session for a doctor in crisis.
- $150 every month provides monthly 1:1 off-the-record coaching session for a doctor in crisis.
Don’t let fear keep another doctor silent. Donate to Physicians Anonymous Today
