Psychiatric illness in female physicians. Are high rates of depression an occupational hazard?

More than half of female physicians may experience a psychiatric illness during their lifetime. Depression is by far the most common such disorder, and the suicide rate is alarmingly high. However, female physicians appear to be at lower risk for substance abuse than male physicians. The medical profession could benefit from increased awareness of depression among female physicians and removal of barriers to treatment, such as stigma and discrimination against those with psychiatric illness.

[1]  J. Hunter,et al.  A Comparison of Male and Female Physicians Treated for Substance Use and Psychiatric Disorders , 1995 .

[2]  C. Burnett,et al.  Suicide and Occupation: A Review of the Literature , 1995, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine.

[3]  Lewis Jm,et al.  The lives of female physicians. , 1994 .

[4]  R. Kessler,et al.  Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States. Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. , 1994, Archives of general psychiatry.

[5]  E. Gomberg,et al.  Women and Alcohol: Use and Abuse , 1993, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[6]  L. Bissell,et al.  One hundred alcoholic women in medicine. An interview study. , 1987, JAMA.

[7]  B. Arnetz,et al.  Suicide patterns among physicians related to other academics as well as to the general population , 1987, Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica.

[8]  W. Cote,et al.  Alcohol Use and Abuse , 1984 .

[9]  G. Carlson,et al.  Suicide, affective disorder, and women physicians. , 1981, The American journal of psychiatry.

[10]  F. Pepitone-Arreola-Rockwell,et al.  Fifty-two medical student suicides. , 1981, The American journal of psychiatry.

[11]  M. A. Davis,et al.  Mood disorder in women professionals. , 1980, Journal of affective disorders.

[12]  Pitts Fn,et al.  Suicide among U.S. women physicians, 1967-1972. , 1979 .

[13]  M. A. Davis,et al.  Psychiatric disorders among professional women. , 1979, Archives of general psychiatry.

[14]  E. R. Morrissey.  Alcohol-related problems in adolescents and women. , 1978, Postgraduate medicine.

[15]  J. Mausner,et al.  Suicide in male and female physicians. , 1974, JAMA.

[16]  M. Ross.  Suicide among Physicians , 1971, Psychiatry in medicine.