Can lawyers be happy?

[crazy canuck]

Oh look, Canadians are happy.

Yeah, news at 11

[MadImmortalMan]

I believe I personally would be unhappy as one. That kind of work has to take a toll on you personally. As long as we're talking criminal law. Corporate and contract stuff seems like it would be ok.

[Capetan Mihali]

Why are dentists committing suicide?

I've read it's because they feel the stress of causing a lot of pain.

A lot of dentists are people who couldnt get into medical school and so settled for denistry (many would be medical students also apply to denistry just in case they dont make it into medicine).  As a result they start out with diminished job satisfaction.  Add on to that the pain issue, nobody liking them (probably worse than lawyers) and the fact their day to day function can be boring as hell - oh goody another filling - and you get a pretty unsatisfactory professional experience.

Yet doctors still kill themselves at a very rate compared to the general public...

[Capetan Mihali]

Why are dentists committing suicide?

I suspect it isn't so much that these medical types are more suicidal, so much as that if a medcal type wanted to commit suicide, they know how to do it and have the stuff to do it with easily and painlessly.

If a dentist wanted to off himself, all s/he'd need to do is put on a nitrous oxide mask without the oxygen mix.

In America we have handguns -- anybody who wants to has about a 95% chance of success in a suicide attempt.

Based on what I recall, doctors et al really are more suicidal than the general public, or professionals generally.  The question of why is ripe for speculation.

[crazy canuck]

Why are dentists committing suicide?

I've read it's because they feel the stress of causing a lot of pain.

A lot of dentists are people who couldnt get into medical school and so settled for denistry (many would be medical students also apply to denistry just in case they dont make it into medicine).  As a result they start out with diminished job satisfaction.  Add on to that the pain issue, nobody liking them (probably worse than lawyers) and the fact their day to day function can be boring as hell - oh goody another filling - and you get a pretty unsatisfactory professional experience.

Yet doctors still kill themselves at a very rate compared to the general public...

Yeah, those are the ones that fall under Malthus' theory of ready access to the means and all the knowledge.

[crazy canuck]

Why are dentists committing suicide?

I suspect it isn't so much that these medical types are more suicidal, so much as that if a medcal type wanted to commit suicide, they know how to do it and have the stuff to do it with easily and painlessly.

If a dentist wanted to off himself, all s/he'd need to do is put on a nitrous oxide mask without the oxygen mix.

In America we have handguns -- anybody who wants to has about a 95% chance of success in a suicide attempt.

Based on what I recall, doctors et al really are more suicidal than the general public, or professionals generally.  The question of why is ripe for speculation.

Seems to me that shooting yourself is a fairly violent and potentially painful act.  Doctors dont need to take that route.

[Malthus]

Why are dentists committing suicide?

I suspect it isn't so much that these medical types are more suicidal, so much as that if a medcal type wanted to commit suicide, they know how to do it and have the stuff to do it with easily and painlessly.

If a dentist wanted to off himself, all s/he'd need to do is put on a nitrous oxide mask without the oxygen mix.

In America we have handguns -- anybody who wants to has about a 95% chance of success in a suicide attempt.

Based on what I recall, doctors et al really are more suicidal than the general public, or professionals generally.  The question of why is ripe for speculation.

Handguns are messy and gross. Many people are squeamish about using them on themselves. Plus, there is the horror of attempting it and screwing it up, which appears to happen surprisingly often.

[Capetan Mihali]

Doctors also have higher rates of depression, (possibly) higher rates of substance abuse, and higher divorce rates.  Perhaps these are not totally unrelated to the suicide question?

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/410643_2

I don't get why, under CC's theory, dentists kill themselves because they're widely-despised failures (yet highly-paid professionals) but doctors do it just cause they know where the meds are kept.  Why don't nurses have such high suicide rates?  They administer dangerous drugs more directly than any doctor except an anesthesiologist.

[Capetan Mihali]

Plus, there is the horror of attempting it and screwing it up, which appears to happen surprisingly often.

It really doesn't, as long as no one is immediately available to render assistance.  The fatality rate is over 95%, far and away the most effective.  Anyone doing it in a controlled, moderately-informed manner probably has a higher chance still.  Which is the main reason (in the US) men kill themselves in much greater numbers than women, even though women make more suicide attempts.

[crazy canuck]

Doctors also have higher rates of depression, (possibly) higher rates of substance abuse, and higher divorce rates.  Perhaps these are not totally unrelated to the suicide question?

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/410643_2

I don't get why, under CC's theory, dentists kill themselves because they're widely-despised failures (yet highly-paid professionals) but doctors do it just cause they know where the meds are kept.  Why don't nurses have such high suicide rates?  They administer dangerous drugs more directly than any doctor except an anesthesiologist.

Nurses cant prescribe so they cant get the drugs for themselves.  Also nurses are still mainly female and females are less stupid than males.

[MadImmortalMan]

And yet, people still fail quite a lot of the time to successfully suicide.

Attempted Suicides

There are approximately 750,000 suicide attempts each year.

An estimated 5 million living Americans have attempted suicide.

More females attempt suicide than males.
(3 female attempts for each male attempt.)

It seems women especially can't do it right.

Actual Suicides

1.3% of all deaths are from suicide.

On average, one suicide occurs every 17 minutes.

On average, an elderly person dies by suicide every 1 hour and 37 minutes.

On average, a young person (age 15-24) dies by suicide every 2 hours and 12 minutes.

Suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death for all Americans.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people aged 15-24 year olds.
(1st = accidents, 2nd = homicide)

Suicide is the fifth leading cause of death for young people aged 5-14 year olds.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students.

Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death for males.

Suicide is the nineteenth leading cause of death for females.

More males die from suicide than females.
(4 male deaths by suicide for each female death by suicide.)

More people die from suicide than from homicide.
(Suicide ranks as the 11th leading cause of death; Homicide ranks 13th.)

73% of all suicide deaths are white males.

80% of all firearm suicide deaths are white males.

Among the highest rates (when categorized by gender and race) are suicide deaths for white men over 85. (54 per 100,000)

And old dudes are using it as a retirement plan I guess.

[Capetan Mihali]

Nurses cant prescribe so they cant get the drugs for themselves.

Seriously?  Nurses manage to develop drug addictions in their professional capacity without the ability to prescribe.  Why can't they use the same methods, e.g. shorting a patient's dosage or illicitly taking medicine from the cabinet, to stockpile a fatal dose?

Doctors don't generally write for themselves anyways.  I'd be really shocked if more than a trivial amount of doctor suicides were via their own prescriptions.  "Here, fill this prescription for me: 100 Nembutal, take as needed for..."

[Malthus]

Plus, there is the horror of attempting it and screwing it up, which appears to happen surprisingly often.

It really doesn't, as long as no one is immediately available to render assistance.  The fatality rate is over 95%, far and away the most effective.  Anyone doing it in a controlled, moderately-informed manner probably has a higher chance still.  Which is the main reason (in the US) men kill themselves in much greater numbers than women, even though women make more suicide attempts.

Apparenly, not so.

http://lostallhope.com/suicide-methods/firearms/reliability

As mentioned in the section Most lethal methods of suicide, studies have shown firearms to be between 73% and 92% effective to achieve a lethal outcome in suicide.

The dangers if you do fail are severe.

http://lostallhope.com/suicide-methods/firearms/dangers-failing

If using a firearm to the head, the most common danger is missing the important parts of the brain. Aiming under the chin with a shotgun can blow off parts of the face causing massive disfiguration, plus a hole through the windpipe, and still not be fatal. Shots to the front of the head may impair brain function (possibly causing paralysis) or affect personality, but still leave the parts of the brain that control bodily functions intact. Shooting through the temples can miss the brain by passing below it, but still sever nerves that go to the eyes, causing blindness. Stone1 goes into greater detail of the dangers of unsuccessful attempts. The prognosis for those failing using this method are rarely good.

For those aiming at other parts of the body, McKinley, Johns and Musgrove2 studied spinal cord injuries from gun shot wounds and other injuries caused by gunshots to the neck, chest, abdomen and back. Oparah and Mandal3 studied gunshot wounds of the chest.

Common outcomes include pain, infection, damage to the colon or intestines (possibly requiring removal and a colostomy bag), damage to diaphragm, liver, spleen, pneumothorax (results in a collapsed lung causing chest pain and breathing difficulties), haemothorax (blood accumulating in the pleural cavity) from internal bleeding of organs in the chest, spinal cord injuries (possibly resulting in para or quadriplegia) and other and non-spinal fractures.

However it is viewed, failing using this method is likely to cause very unpleasant injury.

[crazy canuck]

Looked up some stats and it seems Doctors die from prescription medicines at about 2-3 times the general population.  So Malthus' theory of availability seems to hold.  Nurses to not have the same numbers. 

Anestheseologists are the most likely to poison themselves with available drugs which makes the most sense since they would be the group with the most ready access.

I am interested though in hospital system you have where nurses have ready access to drugs without the need for a doctor's prescription.  I can see doctors getting drugs without prescription since the pharma companies are always pushing free samples on them.

[Capetan Mihali]

I think physicians are also more likely than most to commit suicide when they develop severe/chronic physical ailments.