This September, Help Us Raise Awareness for National Physician Suicide Awareness Day
September 2, 2025 – 3 min read
By AFSP
Each year, National Physician Suicide Awareness Day is observed on September 17, drawing attention to the need for greater mental health support and suicide prevention efforts in the health care industry.
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death overall in the United States, but certain professionals, such as physicians, experience higher rates of suicide than the general population. In addition, nearly half of health workers report often feeling burned out. These facts call attention to the urgent need for health worker environments to encourage rather than discourage help seeking among physicians.
While the rates of physician suicide are alarming, we also know from scientific research that suicide can often be prevented. To learn more about the landscape of mental health and suicide prevention among medical doctors, and what you can do to help, we encourage you to explore the information and resources below.
“Empathy and Experience: The Importance of Physician Mental Health”
In this powerful episode of The Symptom Media Podcast: Bridging the Divide in Mental Health, AFSP Chief Medical Officer Dr. Christine Yu Moutier joined host Dr. Lindi van Niekerk and Dr. Sidney Zisook, co-founder of UCSD’s HEAR program, for a candid discussion about the hidden burdens that many doctors carry, including eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and the pervasive stigma that prevents many from seeking help. The conversation examines the historical and cultural challenges within the medical community that discourage vulnerability and perpetuate silence, and how the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and innovative programs like UCSD’s HEAR program are breaking down those barriers and providing a path for others to follow.
Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act
AFSP supports the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act, which will serve to herald greater mental health support for the medical community. The legislation includes provisions that establish and expand mental health support programs to health care providers; fund research to evaluate health care professional mental health; and establish an education and awareness campaign. To learn more, you can visit the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation website.
Back in June, hundreds of AFSP Volunteer Advocates from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C., for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s 2025 Advocacy Forum. As a result of their passionate and dedicated advocacy, twenty-nine new House cosponsors have signed on to support protecting the mental health of our health care heroes!
Visit afsp.org/actioncenter to learn more about the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, and urge your lawmakers to support this life-saving legislation.
“Why I Fight: Preventing Physician Suicide, and the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act”
In this article for AFSP’s Real Stories blog, AFSP Chief Medical Officer Dr. Christine Yu Moutier shares her personal connection to physician suicide prevention. In medical school, Dr. Moutier experienced firsthand how the culture of medicine made medical students and physicians feel they couldn’t open up or ask for help when experiencing mental health distress. Dr. Moutier writes:
“It became something of a mission for me to change the culture of medicine so that physicians could develop to their full potential. Based on my own personal experience, that meant taking care of our mental health.”