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Mental Health Disclosure Requirements are Barriers to Treatment for Healthcare Professionals
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Requiring physicians to disclose mental illness regardless of current impairment is discriminatory and dangerous
In states where medical licensure applications ask sweeping questions about mental illness, physicians are less likely to seek treatment: https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(17)30522-0/fulltext
In states where medical licensure applications ask sweeping questions about mental illness, physicians are less likely to seek treatment: https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(17)30522-0/fulltext
I've heard from numerous med students, residents, & physicians who have forgone mental health treatment over fear of repercussions and disclosure reqs on medical licensure applications
This ranges from refusal to take SSRIs to avoidance of hospitalization when experiencing SI
This ranges from refusal to take SSRIs to avoidance of hospitalization when experiencing SI
Physicians who do seek mental health treatment are faced with the decision to lie on licensure apps or undergo an invasion of privacy
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>50% of med students report they wouldn’t disclose a mental health diagnosis on a medical license application due to fear of stigma or repercussions
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32054420/
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32054420/
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Those who defend disclosure requirements commonly cite our duty to protect patients
However:
We don’t have evidence that disclosure reqs protect patients
We do have evidence that these reqs harm physicians
However:
We don’t have evidence that disclosure reqs protect patients
We do have evidence that these reqs harm physicians
“The ironic thing is that the unfair question defeats the boards’ purpose”
“If a doctor is impaired but is discouraged from seeking help, the patients are not being protected. We want doctors to get help before they are unable to do their jobs” https://www.statnews.com/2017/10/16/doctors-mental-health-licenses/
“If a doctor is impaired but is discouraged from seeking help, the patients are not being protected. We want doctors to get help before they are unable to do their jobs” https://www.statnews.com/2017/10/16/doctors-mental-health-licenses/
Revoking licensure or otherwise preventing a physician from working due to mental illness is actually illegal under the ADA
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The ADA defines “employment tests or other selection criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability or a class of individuals with disabilities” as forms of discrimination
Covered conditions include depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia
Covered conditions include depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia
What can be done?
Ask your state board to change medical licensure application questions to reflect national recommendations!
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Ask your state board to change medical licensure application questions to reflect national recommendations!
#MedTwitter #PsychTwitter #Advocacy
FSMB recommends that state medical boards “consider whether the information [mental health disclosure] questions are designed to elicit... may be better obtained through means less likely to discourage treatment-seeking among physician applicants”
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The AMA recommends limiting medical licensure questions to current impairment only
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Nebraska was recently successful in changing the language of medical licensure application questions
Physicians and medical trainees are more likely to suffer from mental illness than the general population
We should be conscientious of barriers to care
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We should be conscientious of barriers to care
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