GoKawiilSurgeon's essay describes burnout risks in medicine after Dr Andrew Bryant's suicide
A practicing surgeon writes about recurring bouts of depression, anxiety and burnout during 13 years in medicine, prompted by the suicide of Brisbane gastroenterologist Dr Andrew Bryant. He describes extreme on-call schedules, including 12 days of 24-hour availability out of 14, and long study hours during exam preparation as major stressors affecting his family and personal life.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The account suggests that structural features of medical training and hospital rostering, such as extreme on-call demands, may compound mental health struggles among doctors beyond individual risk factors. It adds a personal voice to ongoing discussions about physician wellbeing following a high-profile death in the profession, though it does not claim to represent all doctors' experiences.
- A surgeon publicly shares his own mental health struggles after a colleague's suicide.
- He identifies loss of control over work schedules as a key trigger for depressive episodes.
- The essay frames burnout as multifactorial, not reducible to genetics or personal deficiency.
Source: drericlevi.pages.dev, 2026-09-23
Published there as: “The darker side of being a doctor”
Read the original report → The summary and analysis above are GoKawiil's own, written from reporting by the source above. Facts and quotes belong to the original publisher.