Dentaltown December 2017 - 34

message board

Suicide and Mental Health
After learning that one of his old dental school classmates committed suicide, this Townie comes to the boards
with the aim of starting an open and frank discussion about depression and dentistry

drsaul
Member Since: 10/12/12
Post: 1 of 665

I graduated in 1982. My class had 125 students; I would say most of them were level-headed
people. We have had four suspected suicides in my class. That's right-four of my classmates.
One was very recent, a very nice lovely lady, that I liked and respected. Her manner of passing
was unknown, but I am shaken.
People, if you need help, get it. Talk to friends and loved ones. Talk to your colleagues. If you
hate dentistry, get out-it's not worth it. I don't know if it's not living up to expectations, or the
obsessive-compulsive nature of our profession. This just makes me so sad.
I was just hoping to start a dialog with us dentists. We can feel isolated and inadequate. We
watch colleagues post amazing cases and feel worse. If this starts us going out for lunch with a
classmate, colleague or just gets us out of the office, that is great. ■

9/12/2017

19th Century Doc
Member Since: 05/22/05
Post: 2 of 665

There is a ton of negativity associated with being a dentist. Yes, there is a positive aspect as
well-we are helping people. But start with the indisputable fact that normal human beings do
not enjoy having needles and drills put in their mouths, couple it with all we have to put up with,
people blaming us for their problems and the money/insurance issues ... put that all together and
it's a heaping mess to have to deal with.
You can try to reframe this job all you want, but those are the facts. I am unable to mind-meld
myself into believing it's a happy profession. I cope by working as little as possible, by having a
practice with mostly grateful patients who I actually like, and by knowing I will be retiring early.
Some dental lovers will say I'm just being whiny. Well, maybe that's partly true. But mostly, I'm
saying to others who feel the same (and there are a ton of you out there): You are not alone. You are
not wrong. You are not broken. You've just got to find a way to deal, or find a way out. ■
9/12/2017

Timmy G
Member Since: 04/14/02
Post: 9 of 665

I think this is an important dialog to have. I really don't think this is as much about "hating
or loving" the job of being a dentist-that's part of it, though, for sure. I think it's more about an
accumulation of things, from the stress of the actual work to the difficulties in trying to manage
staff, the financial pressures that can be a big part of it, the general crapiness of the public and
working with them, and the fact that dentists are not particularly great to each other.
We all tend to look at a case or another dentist and immediately start picking at what's
wrong as opposed to what's right. And the swirl on top of all this is the isolation. That took me
by surprise early in my career. I had worked at a job prior to going to D-school that was very
much collaborative. And at D-school I think most of us had at least a few friends we hung out
with through the good and bad of school.
But then you graduate and for the most part get plopped down into a place with a few 10x12
rooms that you spend your days in like a mole underground. Any real semblance of collaboration
is gone and pared down to maybe a phone call once in a while with a specialist to discuss a
mutual patient. That's a damn isolated situation.
I don't have the answer and at this point in my career I'm unlikely to ever get one. I'm just
pretty sure the more we can talk to one another, to family, to friends, to colleagues [the better off
we'll be]. I think that's a big part of it-bigger than I would have said 20 years ago. ■
9/12/2017

DECEMBER 2017 // dentaltown.com

http://www.dentaltown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown December 2017