Physician Suicide in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Physician burnout is a common problem among US physicians. Burnout has been associated with absenteeism, mood disorders, and medical errors. Over the last several decades, physician burnout has become more prevalent because of increasing workloads, increasing administrative burden, and time spent on electronic medical records, among several other reasons. The rate of suicidal ideation in physicians is almost twice as high as the general population. In addition, studies on mortality related to suicide show that the rates of suicides in physicians are consistently higher than in the general population. Firearms are the most common suicide method in both groups, while physicians are more likely to use poisoning and blunt force trauma, as physicians who committed suicide were more likely to have benzodiazepines, barbiturates, or antipsychotics detectable in their blood. Unfortunately, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) brought to the surface multiple prevailing issues in the US healthcare system, including physician burnout and the prevalence of suicidality among physicians in the recent past. With this editorial, we plan to discuss the current understanding of the impact on physician suicide in the context of COVID-19.

Chronic Pediatric Pain and Mental Illness During the COVID-19 Era: A Case Series From Inpatient Child Psychiatry Unit.

Chronic pain is defined as pain that persists following tissue injury or disease processes and is believed to have taken place after healing. It is a functional impairment that causes discomfort and leads to the inability to perform various essential daily activities. Chronic pain in pediatrics can be of various types, the most commonly prevalent types being headaches, abdominal pain, and limb pain. Adolescents with chronic pain have been found to have generalized anxiety scores twice that of the average population, along with significant impairment of family dynamics. Some forms of chronic pain respond effectively to medication and psychotherapy, and recurrence is common when stress is triggered by external or environmental factors, most recently in the form of COVID-19. In this case series, we discuss three cases of worsening mental health presentations and chronic pain exacerbation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We talk about the unique perspective of chronic pain in the pediatric population and comorbid mental illnesses and their management from a psychiatric standpoint.