Doctors and nurses are dying by suicide, as America’s health care workers call for change

KevinMD April 28, 2023
Jessica Singh, MD and Lorenzo Norris, MD

In the spring of 2020, as COVID-19 swept through hospitals in the tri-state area, Dr. Lorna Breen, a physician who served as the medical director of the emergency department at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, contracted COVID while caring for patients. Shortly after returning to work under relentlessly overwhelming circumstances, she died by suicide.

Dr. Breen had no prior mental health conditions.

As her story made national headlines, Dr. Breen’s death became the symbol of the tragic burdens placed on health care workers, including the stigma of seeking mental health care. This deep-rooted cultural stigma that pervades the U.S. health care system is directly related to the numerous barriers faced by health care providers seeking mental health services: negative career implications,...

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