Kozhikode: The extreme difficult conditions under which the doctors across the country function take a toll on their physical and mental condtions leading many of them to take the extreme step of putting an end to their lives, says a study. According to the study, published in Indian Journal of Psychiatry, as many as 358 doctors have ended their lives in India between 2010 and 2019. The list includes 125 medical students, 105 house surgeons and 128 doctors. Another factor which causes concerns is that, of those who had ended their lives 70 percent were aged between 30 and 40 years.

According to  IMA, 20 persons including medical students, have killed themselves last year alone in Kerala. As many as 80,000 medical students pass out each year from 529 medical colleges in India. 

Most of them are women

The study, published in Indian Journal of Psychiatry, holds that over half of the medical practitioners who kill  themselves are women. Most of them belong to anaesthesiology (22.4 %) and obstetrics gynecology (16 %).
Apart from professional reasons, some of them take the extreme step owing to marital discord. From the data available in the study, 45.2 percent medical students, 23.1 percent house surgeons and 26.7 percent doctors had died by suicide due to family issues. Anaesthesiology and obstetrics gynecology come under the high risk category. This could be the reason for the high rate of suicides in that branches, points out IMA’s Emotional Well-being and Suicide Prevention Committee convener Dr P N Suresh Kumar. 

BurnOut Syndrome

Tough schedules, humiliation from senior doctors, family issues, financial insecurities etc could be causes of the suicides. These issues lead to BurnOut Syndrome resulting in low self confidence and helplessness.  As the women are forced to play many roles, the stress they suffer is higher than that of men.

IMA’s helping hand

Aiming at the mental well-being of the doctors and medical students, the IMA has launched a helpline app called ‘Helping Hands’. And to attain the goal, an Emotional Wellbeing and Suicide Prevention Committee was formed, service of which could be made available to doctors and their family members. The service of the psychiatrists will be completely free, announced IMA State president Dr Joseph Benavan.