'Do No Harm' Sheds Light On Silent Killer: Suicide Among Doctors

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Burnout. Sleep deprivation. Stress.

These are just a few challenges medical students and doctors alike face day in and day out.

To that end, Robyn Symon, an Emmy-award winning filmmaker who produced and directed a new feature documentary, "Do No Harm," is exposing an epidemic among physician suicide.

"We started in 2014 actually before the pandemic started, but no one was talking about it," she said. "Now, all of a sudden, we can see first-hand healthcare workers on the front-lines and how stressful it is when you see patients die every single day."

Symon said doctors aren't allowed to freely get mental health help because it could jeopardize their careers.

"They have to re-license. Every state is different, but most states have on their exam, 'Have you ever undergone mental health counseling,' " she said. "If you say 'yes', it could trigger an internal investigation that could jeopardize your career."

Because of the stigma of mental health, Symon said many of the families she sat down with in preparing for the film would not go on camera.

"When you start medical school, everyone is about norm with society in terms of mental health. But within one year, 25 percent of medical students are clinically depressed and have suicidal ideations."

"When you see death day in and day out, especially with the COVID-19 crisis, the physicians are told 'Go to the next room,' " she said "What we are trying to do is we are trying to promote and pressure hospitals to say 'Look, these people need mental health counseling weekly, to opt into a peer counseling session so they can process, because they are human."

Symon said virtual screenings of the film are being held every Sunday night through the month of May. For more information, click here.