Physician Suicide—A Personal and Community Tragedy

Physician suicide—its incidence, causes, and prevention—has been a subject of intense study, particularly since the landmark meta-analysis by Schernhammer.¹ In this issue of JAMA Psychiatry, Duarte and colleagues² provide a much-needed update on physician suicide rates in a meta-analysis of global studies. But ultimately, physician suicide is more than a matter of standardized mortality ratios; rather, it is a tragedy both personally and professionally. Any discussion of physician suicide deaths needs to recognize the far-reaching influence that even a single suicide has on the physician’s community.