Senior cardiologists and mental health specialists warned that doctors in Pakistan are dying younger as a result of lifestyle diseases, extreme burnout and in some cases suicide, with nearly six out of ten physicians reporting significant burnout. Suicide rates among doctors were described as almost double those of the general population, yet only about one third ever seek professional help, highlighting a worsening crisis in physician health.
The warning came during Life in a Metro, a nationwide academic forum organised under Mediverse, an initiative of Hudson Pharma, where interventional cardiologist and internal medicine specialist Dr M Rehan Omer Siddiqi drew attention to the root causes. He said long working hours, chronic sleep deprivation, poor diet, low physical activity and constant psychological pressure are pushing doctors toward early heart disease, diabetes, depression and substance misuse, while self diagnosis and self prescribing delay timely care.
A deeply embedded culture of endurance and guilt prevents many doctors from prioritising their own health, Dr Siddiqi noted, and he used the airline oxygen mask analogy to stress that clinicians must secure their own wellbeing before they can care effectively for others. A healthy doctor delivers safer and better care, he said, calling on hospitals and medical institutions to promote teamwork, delegation and realistic workloads to reduce the burden of doctor burnout.
Speakers linked chronic stress and burnout with hypertension, metabolic disorders and a higher risk of sudden cardiac events, particularly for physicians working in high pressure urban settings. Metropolitan life intensifies the problem through traffic congestion, smog, heavy patient loads and seasonal depression during winter months, forcing many doctors to postpone their own lives while they are at their most productive.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Kulsoom Haider explained the mind body connection and said unprocessed emotions often present as physical illness, noting fatigue, chest tightness, gastrointestinal problems and stress induced cardiac injury as common manifestations. She emphasised simple daily practices such as controlled breathing, mindfulness, gratitude and body awareness to help restore balance and reduce the long term physiological toll of chronic stress on physicians.
Khawaja Ahaduddin, General Manager Marketing and Sales at Hudson Pharma, said healthcare professionals are more important than any product and described Mediverse as a platform to strengthen continuous medical education alongside physical and emotional wellbeing. Experts at the forum cautioned that unless doctor burnout, emotional exhaustion and self neglect are addressed through institutional reforms, accessible mental health support and cultural change, Pakistan risks losing its healers prematurely with serious consequences for patient safety and the future of healthcare delivery.
