Just recently, I stumbled upon an interesting story on the morning news: 55% of doctors and 30% of younger doctors are suffering from depression. This really doesn’t come as a surprise, but I thought it was an interesting story.

I know people that work in health care field and personally, this is one field that I would never want to work in. I don’t like seeing people sick or dying. Period! Case closed. I get so traumatized when I see someone throw up let alone get injured. Sad fact: Five years ago, my mother was in the ER getting tests done, I was in the hospital lobby. I sat down to watch TV because I knew it was going to be a long night in the hospital, when suddenly, a hysterical woman brought her toddler in through the ER. He was convulsing and it  turned out he had a bad seizure. I was hysterical. I started crying. I felt so bad for this lady and her son. Good news is that he survived. Thank you, Lord. But my anxiety went through the roof because of that encounter. Another time, I was admitted to the ER because of a broken patella in my left knee and I was the only patient in the ER at the time, but not for long. Just as I was able to go to Radiology, the entire staff of doctors had to immediately respond to multiple victims coming in through the ER because of a bad car crash. So, I had to wait in my room (in the ER) because the crash was very serious and some of those victims didn’t survive. It was like I was in an episode of the show “Code Black”. My anxiety went sky high and you could hear the blood curdling screams from the victims’ families’ when they heard word that their loved ones had perished. So heartbreaking and traumatizing.

What doctors see day in and day out, is something that I don’t even want to know. I can’t even fathom what their shift is like for just one hour. They would probably get a shooting victim, someone mangled in a car crash, or a heart attack victim. I would immediately run to the nearest exit if it were me. I thank God for all of the brave people in this world that are doctors, nurses and others working in the health care field. They have probably one of the hardest and most stressful jobs out there. (That also includes being a cop, firefighter, and people serving in the military). Again, God bless you!

I couldn’t handle the stress of the job, period. I wouldn’t want to see people die right in front of you while you’re trying your hardest to save them. I would bawl my eyes out.

If you look at studies regarding doctors (especially younger doctors), their stress levels are through the roof. Main stressors include: very long hours on the job, being on call 24/7, student loans & debts, no sleep (of course, NOT), and other factors. Like I stated before, I’m not surprised.

In a previous post, I talked about going to the ER because of a bad panic attack that was mistaken for a heart attack. FYI, that’s a very common occurrence in hospitals. One ER doctor told me that people come into the ER with heart attack-like symptoms but it’s really just anxiety and panic attacks. So true. Anyways, this ER doctor asked me: “What’s going on in your life?” I didn’t think of it until I saw this story on the news, but maybe I should’ve asked the doctor how his day was going. I didn’t think that doctors suffered from anxiety or depression. Fun fact: We all do at some point in our lives!

Speaking of cops, I was reading an short article online written by a former law enforcement and criminal investigator and it was called “Police Depression: The Silent Killer” and just I was blown away. The things cops see on a daily basis is unbelievable. That is another field I would not work in because my depression and anxiety would go through the roof. But God bless the heroes that do it everyday. I also read another article (will be attached on Facebook) on by a former cop named Jim Russell and I was so immersed in his story and felt so bad for him. It takes a lot to come forward and share your story. You need to be brave. This is a universal problem that occurs everyday.