Nearly a quarter of U.S. physicians have symptoms of depression, yet many are hesitant to seek professional help, according to Medscape's ''Physician Burnout Report'' published March 3.
Medscape surveyed 9,175 physicians in more than 29 specialties from June 28 to Oct. 3, 2022.
Four findings:
1. Twenty-three percent of all physicians said they were depressed. Of these respondents, 24 percent said they had clinical depression and 67 percent said they had colloquial depression.
2. Nine percent of physicians reported suicidal thoughts, the same percentage as a year prior and down from 22 percent in 2020.
3. Forty-two percent of physicians with depression said they did not seek professional help because they did not want to risk disclosure to their medical board, up 110 percent from 2021.
4. Otolaryngologists were most likely to report suicidal thoughts at 13 percent, while pulmonologists were the least at 4 percent.
View the full report here.