In honor of National Suicide Prevention Month, we are sharing stories about physician burnout to help raise awareness about this epidemic on the rise. If you’d like to submit a story, please email jpellettere@gold-foundation.org. All submissions will remain anonymous. Learn more about physician burnout and how to get involved in raising awareness.
How not to deal with your depression in medical school
Avoid talking to your support system outside of medical school.
Avoid talking to your support system inside of medical school.
I mean it! Don’t even make eye contact with them!
Don’t reach out to the people whose literal job is to help you with stuff like this.
Definitely don’t go back to counseling.
Just go to sleep when things get too hard.
Instead of studying for an approaching exam, try curling up on the floor in an empty classroom and fantasizing about ways to kill yourself without traumatizing your roommates.
Don’t engage in any healthy anti-depression activities like working out, writing, or painting.
Don’t eat enough food to fuel your body.
Don’t give up any responsibilities in order to better care for yourself.
Be alone.
I wrote this list in October of my second year of medical school. I’d like to be able to say that now, as a fourth year seasoned student, I’ve got it all figured out. That I did all the right things and got the help I needed and I’m now a happy and perfectly functioning person. But that wouldn’t be the truth.
I’ve gotten better about reaching out to people inside and outside of medical school. I’ve found incredible mentors who I can talk to about my mental health and wonderful friends who stick by my side in the toughest of times. I’ve learned coping skills and started seeing a psychiatrist and taking medications. I’ve found a career path that I love and look forward to continuing in.
But the truth is that I still struggle. I still get depressed and I still occasionally have intense suicidal ideation and sometimes I will still just stop eating. I want to share this story with other medical students because I want them to know that they are not alone, as I once felt I was. That recovery is a long and twisting process. That it is worth it. That you are worth it.
In honor of National Suicide Prevention Month, we are sharing stories about physician burnout to help raise awareness about this epidemic on the rise. If you’d like to submit a story, please email jpellettere@gold-foundation.org. All submissions will remain anonymous. Learn more about physician burnout and how to get involved in raising awareness.
If you or someone you know needs help, contact the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
