Licensing boards can require all medical records, including details from long-ago psychotherapy sessions, and then press for close supervision
By Kayla Behbahani and Amber Thompson
#JamesDonaldson notes:
Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.
Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.
Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space. #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticle
Young #doctors are planning funerals — their own. They are intubating patients — their colleagues. And they are hearing bedside monitors beep and fall flat over and over again in a single shift, only to return to more of the same in the next shift, and the next, as they find their years of training unequal to the awful challenges of the #covid-19 #pandemic.
Last month, a prominent Manhattan emergency room doctor, Lorna Breen, died by #suicide after describing the horrific events she had witnessed while fighting the disease caused by the novel #coronavirus. Her death highlighted what some of us in the #mentalhealth community have known since the start of the crisis: that the psychological impact of what is happening in American hospitals will stay with us long after the immediate crisis subsides and that among those most affected will be health-care workers. All agree that we should focus on how to help them seek the care they may need, but little has been said about the barriers that can discourage them from reaching out — or that a significant barrier is medical licensing.
The #pandemic has provoked fear in #doctors and #nurses. They’re scared, not just because they so often can’t save the lives of #covid-19 patients, but because they can’t always protect themselves and their families from infection. Those like Breen who lead a hospital department probably feel most the additional burden of having to keep their colleagues safe and fight for protective equipment. National shortages, coupled with the highly contagious nature of this #virus, have resulted in workers and vulnerable relatives getting sick and, in some cases, dying. No #doctor imagines having to treat a colleague; confronting our own mortality and safety in the workplace on a daily basis is something none of us were taught in medical school. It makes the mundane experience of going to work terrifying and even traumatic.
The toll that trauma and post-traumatic #stress puts on the body is well-established. We’ve also known for some time that trauma can change the structure and chemical makeup of the brain. It hijacks the brain’s ability to reason and activates our most primal emotional responses. It should come as no surprise, then, that there is a proven link between trauma and #suicide. While we do not know the specific circumstances of Breen’s challenges — she had also contracted the #virus herself — we do know that her experience in the hospital, as relayed by her father and sister in the news media, is the experience of countless other health-care workers who remain on the front lines and, consequently, face the same risk. The common symptoms of trauma include avoidance of reminders of the traumatic event, nightmares with similar themes, flashbacks and intrusive memories, critical self-evaluation, guilt, negative mood, #anxiety, panic attacks and detachment or dissociation. When these symptoms go untreated, sufferers become vulnerable to post-traumatic #stress disorder (#PTSD), other serious disorders and, yes, #suicide.
Early treatment is essential to the prevention of a potentially debilitating, if not deadly, outcome, but physicians, in particular, face elevated levels of scrutiny when disclosing any form of #mentalhealthtreatment to state licensing boards. For many doctors, the repercussions they may face introduce a significant obstacle. About 90 percent of state licensing applications include a question about a physician’s #mentalhealth, and some even ask questions about past diagnoses, such as #depression or #anxiety, that may have occurred before medical school. This goes against the recommendation of the American Medical Association and has been cited in studies as a significant reason that physicians are reluctant to seek #mentalhealthcare.
Although there is no reason to believe that psychiatric diagnosis or treatment poses a risk to patients unless the physician has very serious ongoing symptoms, answering yes to these questions often leads to further questions. The state licensing board can require all of your medical and #mentalhealth records, including intimate details about your upbringing, your family and your spouse that you may have divulged in private psychotherapy sessions. Your license may be contingent upon sharing these records. Moreover, after sharing your records, the board can then dictate further evaluation and possibly send a physician to a Physician Health Program (PHP). Initially started to assist physicians through tough times, some PHPs have earned a poor and even malignant reputation over the years, partly because they have financial arrangements with select institutions across the country. PHPs reportedly send physicians to these institutions — at their own expense — for costly cash-only evaluations that sometimes last several weeks. After the evaluation, the PHP may require supervision of the physician’s practice of medicine, a workplace monitor whose job it is to report back to the PHP about the “troubled physician,” or order random check-ins even without any specific evidence of current impairment.
Once a PHP requires this evaluation, the physician is trapped. If you don’t enter into a contract with the PHP to fulfill whatever requirements have been outlined, you risk permanently losing your medical license. Many physicians caught in what some believe to be a corrupt PHP system have written about their experiences, and others who know how this system works have advocated for these #doctors, but PHPs still exist and physicians still fear them.
#Doctors and #nurses are already feeling the psychic shock of treating the #coronavirus
The consequences can be dire. A 2016 survey of female physicians showed that half believed that they had met criteria for a #mentalillness but had not sought treatment in part due to fear of reporting to state licensing boards. In 2011, a survey of surgeons found that 1 in 16 had thought of #suicide; of those, more than 60 percent had concerns about losing their medical license. This pattern of fear and avoidance of treatment contributes to a shocking statistic: One physician commits #suicide each day in the country, twice the rate as in the general population.
Despite this and the numerous studies on physician #mentalhealth, as well as advocacy by the American Medical Association and the Federation of State Medical Boards, some states continue to prop up barriers that stigmatize seeking help for #mentalillness at a time when it should be encouraged most. Required #mentalhealth disclosures don’t eliminate mental illness; they reduce the treatment of it. #Covid-19 is an international crisis that has deployed thousands of physicians who are desperately needed in the fight. Licensure applications should be amended to remove broad questions regarding #mentalhealth history and focus on a clinician’s ability to function. Licensure should not be contingent upon intrusive access to a physician’s most personal medical records or costly and lengthy evaluations and demoralizing contracts that, as psychiatrists ourselves, we would never require of our patients.
#Coronavirus has given #doctors a new job: Palliative care
These requirements should be lifted so that health-care workers who risk their lives daily can be allowed the opportunity to seek #mentalhealthcare without fear of forfeiting their right to privacy. Only then can they feel comfortable enough to seek early treatment for the ongoing trauma they endure to save the lives of others — and the helplessness they may feel when there are so many they can’t save. #Covid-19 has killed more #Americans than the Vietnam War. With that somber milestone observed, and as deaths continue to mount, there is no doubt that health-care workers are experiencing something only those serving on a battlefield can understand. They deserve the opportunity to heal their psychological wounds without the fear of losing their careers.
James Donaldson is a Washington State University graduate (’79). After an outstanding basketball career with WSU, he went on to play professional basketball in the NBA with the Seattle Supersonics, San Diego/L.A. Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, and Utah Jazz. He also played for several teams in the European Leagues in Spain, Italy, and Greece, and he toured with The Harlem Globetrotters to wrap up his career. James was an NBA All-Star in 1988 while playing center for the Dallas Mavericks. In 2006, James was inducted into the Pac-10 Sports Hall of Fame and also the Washington State University Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2010, James was elected as a board member for the NBA Retired Players Association.
James frequently conducts speaking engagements (motivational, inspirational, educational) for organizations, schools, and youth groups.
In 2010, James was the recipient of the NBA Legends of Basketball ABC Award, awarded for outstanding contributions in Athletics–Business–Community.
He believes in being a role model for success and professionalism to the scores of young people to whom he devotes so much of his time. He currently serves on several boards and committees and is a member of many organizations.
James believes in developing relationships that create a “Win-Win” environment for everyone involved, and in being the best he can be!
For more information about James Donaldson or to request he speak at your event, contact him at:
www.StandingAboveTheCrowd.com
JamesD@StandingAboveTheCrowd.com
1-800-745-3161 (voicemail & fax)
James Donaldson is the author of “Standing Above The Crowd” and “Celebrating Your Gift of Life” and founder of the Your Gift of Life Foundation which focuses on mental health awareness and suicide prevention, especially pertaining to our school aged children and men.
If you’re interested in having James come and speak to your group of young adults, business entrepreneurs, aspiring political and community leaders, and athletic teams, please contact him at jamesd@yourgiftoflife.org and or leave a personal message for him at 1-800-745-3161. Keep up with him and read about how he is reaching out and making a difference in the lives of so many around the world at www.yourgiftoflife.org
