Medical Examiner 3-19-21

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MARCH 19, 2021

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WHY MEGHAN MATTERS

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Best-selling author Michael Connelly’s books feature a homicide detective named Hieronymus Bosch who investigates murders using a simple philosophy: either everybody matters or nobody does. In other words, solving the murder of a homeless junkie or strung out hooker whose body is found in a filthy alley has to be just as important as finding the killer of some famous rich person whose body lies on the cool marble of a palatial mansion. If one doesn’t matter, then neither does the other. That seems like a sentiment most of us would readily agree with. Reality is a little different, however. As you’ve probably noticed, the planet is in the middle of a pandemic (well, hopefully well past the middle). Healthcare workers have been stressed to the breaking point and beyond for more than a year as they deal with unrelenting stress brought on by massive patient loads and more than half a million deaths from the virus alone. The past year has exacted a huge mental toll on these hard-working professionals. You might even think something is wrong with a frontline worker who isn’t emotionally affected by the pandemic. Doctors, however, are supposed to be immune from it all. In fact, if they report a mental health issue or ask for help, they can pay an enormous professional price. Their careers could end. Pamela Wible, an Oregon physician and friend of the Medical Examiner, has become an activist in the fight for physicians to be allowed to be human beings with actual feelings. She maintains a suicide prevention hotline for doctors and medical students, an especially important mission given the fact that doctors have the highest suicide rate of any profession, more than double the rate in the general population. Despite that sobering fact, many healthcare organizations penalize physicians who voice the need for help. As one doctor told Wible, “I drive 300 miles [away] to seek care and always pay cash. I am forced to lie on my state relicensing every year. There is no way in hell I would ever disclose this to the medical board—they are not our friends.” The flip side of this issue is where Meghan Markle comes in. She matches doctors in a key metric: what could they possibly be depressed about? Why would a beautiful, wealthy, entitled duchess want to end her life? Doctors suffer from a similar PR problem. They are members of one of the most respected professions in our society. M.D. after a name conveys an unspoken message of prestige, wealth and success. Earlier this month, Dr. Joe Stothert, the husband of Omaha, Nebraska’s, mayor commited suicide at the couple’s home. In response, Dr. Wible received the following comment: “All I feel is anger about what a stupid thing such a renowned, handsome, wealthy man with a mansion and gorgeous mayor for a wife did. Disgusting. I live on $800 a month, I’m seriously ill in my 70s living on public assistance. I have to live through hell.” Unfortunately, big houses and beautiful spouses do not prevent depression, anxiety, PTSD, or any other cause of mental stress — in England or America. Dr. Wible tells the story of a physician friend who witnessed 13 patients die in a

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