Up to 20% of Healthcare providers will be affected by a mental illness or substance use disorder during their lifetime.
Physician Suicide Awareness Day
09/16/2025
Background
Physicians have one of the highest suicide rates of any profession. More than half of physicians and medical students, and nearly half of residents know of a physician or colleague or peer, respectively, who has ever considered, attempted or died by suicide. Physicians are experiencing practice environments like they never have before— early physician retirement, health care worker shortages and a growing inequity experienced by patients. Understandably, this has taken a toll on their mental health and contributes to burnout rates.
National Physician Suicide Awareness Day
National Physician Suicide Awareness Day (#NPSADay) is here to help everyone prevent physician suicide – including health systems, hospitals, medical societies and practices. We need to come together and break down the culture of silence around physician mental health. It’s time to talk – and to act – so physicians’ struggles don’t become mental health emergencies. Together, we can shift the paradigm from a system where physicians think that burnout, depression or suicidal thoughts are something they must overcome by themselves to one where they see the support system around them willing to help them seek mental health care. This can start today. All health care organizations can take action to help prevent physician suicide on #NPSADay and beyond.