Sydney (dpa) - Doctors are more likely to commit suicide, with
women in the profession facing more than double the risk of the
average population, while male doctors have a 25 per cent higher
rate.
The research was commissioned by Beyond Blue, an institute funded
by the Australian government that looks into depression and devises
strategies to deal with it.
Melbourne-based Beyond Blue's Michael Baigent said his findings
confirmed the notion that doctors were careless about their own
health.
Professor Baigent also found that doctors were often competitive
and so were reluctant to admit that they had weaknesses.
"They think that because they diagnose conditions in other people,
they can diagnose it accurately in themselves," he said. "Doctors
feel that being depressed themselves is a sign of weakness, but when
it comes to their patients they see it as just being an illness like
any other illness."
Copyright 2010 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH