Official Warns About Rising Suicide Rates Among Iranian Doctors
An advisor for the Medical Council of Iran, has highlighted the dire working conditions of doctors as a factor contributing to the rising suicide rates among the profession.
An advisor for the Medical Council of Iran, has highlighted the dire working conditions of doctors as a factor contributing to the rising suicide rates among the profession.
Mohammad Mirkhani noted the shifting dynamics within the medical field, which was once considered a prestigious profession. "The medical profession has seen an increase in financial difficulties, making doctors more vulnerable emotionally and within their family lives due to demanding work conditions," he said.
He described the hospital environment as "military-like," particularly harsh for medical residents who sometimes endure up to 72 hours without sleep, leading to severe depression.
The recent suicide of Samira Al-e-Saeedi, an associate professor of rheumatology at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, has reignited concerns about mental health security among healthcare workers.
Her colleague Mohammad Abdous expressed his concerns on social media, pointing out the immense work-related stress doctors face compared to other professions. Al-e-Saeedi had reportedly disclosed her suicidal intentions to her peers, who failed to take her seriously.
Nima Shahriarpour, an emergency medicine specialist, also revealed that research indicates a 3.1 to fivefold increase in suicide rates among the medical community.
"Among 14,000 medical assistants nationwide, an average of 13 commit suicide annually," Shahriarpour added.
The Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, which operates as part of the judiciary, refuses to reveal the exact cause of the suspicious deaths of young doctors.
Suicide rates among medical students have also escalated to alarming levels. In February, the head of the Iranian Psychiatric Scientific Association reported that 16 medical residents had taken their lives over the past year, emphasizing the mental health challenges faced by those in the medical field.
Former government spokesman Ali Rabiei has said in an article in Etemad Online website: "I would like to beg the government to stop making policies and decisions. The best thing they can do is doing nothing. In this way, not only things will not get worse, but at least the society will have some peace of mind."
Amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and a confrontation with Israel, Iran’s beleaguered currency has lost 25 percent of its value since early January, increasing fears of higher inflation, which already hovers around 50 percent.
Rabiei, who has a background as a high-level intelligence officer, highlighted the lack of trust society has in the government, citing divergent values. Meanwhile, the government continues to make decisions and enact resolutions that worsen societal chaos.
He said, "a glance at the society reveals that so many people are worried about the government's ad-hoc decisions and this has led to a deep feeling of insecurity among the people particularly in the urban society."
"Apart from concerns about their livelihood, everyone has many reasons to feel insecure. In such a situation, the government had better stop manipulating people's lives and disrupting their peace of mind," Rabiei said, adding that officials should stop talking too much. “Please don't do anything and we will take our hats off and respect you for leaving us alone."
Disappointment is also palpable within the conservative camp, to which the government belongs. Conservative figure Hasan Beyadi, close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office, expressed this sentiment in an interview with the conservative news website Nameh News: "Perhaps the government's best course of action is non-intervention in national affairs."
Beyadi lamented the lack of expert control over national matters, urging the government to recognize that political participation could address the current challenges. He highlighted the Raisi administration's failure to fulfill promises, such as currency stabilization, job creation, housing construction targets, and nuclear negotiations progress. "Unfortunately, the affairs of the nation are not being controlled by experts. And the government is not aware that the problematic situation can be improved by paving the way for people's political participation."
He was alluding to increasing repression and manipulation of elections that allow only hardliners to run for office and monopolize government offices.
Beyadi emphasized the impossibility of recovering from losses brought about by sanctions and criticized the government's handling of the industrial sector.
"The government's biggest and most basic mission was to provide essential commodities for the nation, supply water, power, and natural gas, and meet the nation's need for telecommunications. Even these would have been done better if the government did not intervene,” Beyadi said, adding that the government's most important missions were taking care of the country's foreign policy and economic policy particularly in the areas such as reducing inflation and unemployment rates and providing housing for the nation. But the government was not successful in tackling any one of those problems.
Although both Rabiei and Beyadi were referring to the presidential administration of Ebrahim Raisi, but the general public perceives serious economic and political issues symptomatic of the whole regime, headed and controlled by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Without naming the economic and financial conglomerates operating under the aegis of Khamenei's office, Beyadi said that the government's failure in many of those areas was because of the presence of major parallel economic organizations that are not answerable to anyone.
Beyadi's outlook on Iran's future seemed pessimistic as he doubted Raisi's chances of success in his final year as president without involving the people in decision-making and appointing skilled experts to key positions. He also suggested that Raisi might not secure a second term, amid persistently worsening socio-economic condition.
Amini's tragic death occurred on September 16, 2022, in Kasra Hospital, Tehran, following her arrest by Iran's morality police for alleged improper hijab, igniting nationwide protests. She had received fatal head wounds and was in a coma for three days.
Her family filed a complaint in 2022 against those responsible for her arrest and subsequent treatment by the police.
Iranian authorities initially claimed Amini suffered a heart attack at a police station, leading to her collapse and coma before hospitalization. However, the state’s forensic authorities later suggested her death might be linked to thyroid medication, a claim disputed by her family. As previously reported by Nikbakht during his interview with Faraz Daily website, access to critical medical reports from Kasra Hospital had been denied, hindering independent assessments. But photos taken on her hospital bed showed what appeared to be severe head injuries received soon after she was arrested.
Over 800 members of Iran's Medical Council accused the head of the organization of aiding the government in concealing the circumstances of Amini's death. Last month, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission concluded that her death was unlawful, holding the State responsible for physical violence in custody.
Amini's death triggered widespread protests from September 2022 to January 2023, known as the Woman Life Freedom protests. The government responded with a violent crackdown, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests.
Nikbakht and other legal experts advocate for public court trials, highlighting the secretive nature of Revolutionary Courts where sensitive political cases are often heard.
Nikbakht emphasized, "Last year, the trial of a number of lawyers accused of propagandizing against the regime was held in private, and the aforementioned lawyers were convicted and deprived of some social rights."
Iran's US-sanctioned judiciary chief, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i this week stated that he was in favor of public hearings "except for the cases that the constitution does not allow."
Criticism has also been directed at the Revolutionary Courts for their handling of cases related to the 2022 protests, with many protestors receiving harsh sentences, including execution and long-term imprisonment. Nikbakht himself faced charges of propaganda against the regime and was sentenced to one year in prison, while journalists reporting on Amini's death were similarly imprisoned.
Despite the legal stalemate surrounding Amini's case, the authorities swiftly conducted the trial of Amini's uncle, Safa Aeli, who was arbitrarily arrested and tortured in 2023. Aeli was sentenced to five years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Saqez for charges including participation in protests, spreading propaganda against the regime, and insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He was denied access to legal representation, highlighting ongoing human rights concerns in Iran and the lack of due process in legal proceedings in Iran's judiciary.
