Copied and pasted from the article:
The research on physician rates of suicide seems more thorough and reliable. It is physicians, not dentists, who have the highest rate of suicide among professionals. They are more than twice as likely as the general population to kill themselves. Psychiatrists commit suicide at the highest rate of all physicians. They account for seven percent of the total physician deaths and 12 percent of the 593 suicides in a study of 18,730 physician deaths. (ÒSuicides by Psychiatrists: A Study of Medical SpecialistsÓ by Rich et al Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, August 1980).
ÒAre dentists at a higher risk of suicide than others?Ó The answer would have to be that dentists are not the occupation with the highest risk. Beyond that point, the research is conflicting. Some say suicide among white male American dentists is higher than average. Others, including the June 2001 JADA article, say there is little evidence dentists are more prone to stress-related suicide than the general population. Even if StackÕs findings are true, dentistsÕ suicide rate would be 6.64 times 12 for a rate of 80 dentists committing suicide per 100,000 dentists annually. A consoling fact is that dentistsÕ death rates from other causes are lower than the general populationÕs and, on average, dentists live several years longer than the general population.
The research on physician rates of suicide seems more thorough and reliable. It is physicians, not dentists, who have the highest rate of suicide among professionals. They are more than twice as likely as the general population to kill themselves. Psychiatrists commit suicide at the highest rate of all physicians. They account for seven percent of the total physician deaths and 12 percent of the 593 suicides in a study of 18,730 physician deaths. (ÒSuicides by Psychiatrists: A Study of Medical SpecialistsÓ by Rich et al Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, August 1980).
ÒAre dentists at a higher risk of suicide than others?Ó The answer would have to be that dentists are not the occupation with the highest risk. Beyond that point, the research is conflicting. Some say suicide among white male American dentists is higher than average. Others, including the June 2001 JADA article, say there is little evidence dentists are more prone to stress-related suicide than the general population. Even if StackÕs findings are true, dentistsÕ suicide rate would be 6.64 times 12 for a rate of 80 dentists committing suicide per 100,000 dentists annually. A consoling fact is that dentistsÕ death rates from other causes are lower than the general populationÕs and, on average, dentists live several years longer than the general population.
