Treatment of mental disorders in seven physicians committing suicide.

Abstract

Through psychological autopsy seven cases of physician suicide were studied. All seven victims received a diagnosis of current mood disorder, two of them bipolar disorder. Five had suffered a disabling physical condition. None of the victims had had adequate treatment with antidepressant or mood-stabilizing drugs, nor had they been in psychotherapy. Current adequate treatment for depression seems to be as rare among physician victims as among suicides with major depressive disorders in the population.