The Mental Health Crisis Among Doctors: What 'This Is Going to Hurt' Reveals

Behind the façade of competence and care lies a hidden epidemic—mental health struggles among doctors. Adam Kay’s This Is Going to Hurt brings this crisis to light with unflinching honesty, revealing the emotional cost of a profession that demands so much.

Doctors face intense pressures: long hours, life-or-death decisions, emotional trauma, and a culture that often stigmatizes vulnerability. The memoir illustrates how these factors converge to create high rates of burnout, depression, and tragically, suicide—especially among young female doctors, who are statistically at greater risk than their peers.

Kay shares personal moments of despair, exhaustion, and isolation, highlighting the lack of formal pastoral care and the fear many doctors feel about seeking help. The culture of medicine prizes resilience and stoicism, sometimes at the expense of wellbeing.

The consequences extend beyond individual suffering. Burnout affects patient safety, quality of care, and healthcare workforce retention. Addressing this crisis requires systemic change: better staffing, mental health resources, and a shift in culture to normalize support and self-care.

Recognizing doctors as humans with limits is essential to building sustainable healthcare systems.

This mental health perspective is a critical piece of the healthcare puzzle. Next, we will explore how doctors use humor and community to build resilience in the face of adversity.

Sources: 1 , 3 , 4