Doctors are unsympathetic to colleagues who are psychologically vulnerable

EDITOR—Clark's article on why people become doctors is of interest not only for her understanding of doctors' vulnerability to life and career vicissitudes.1 More generally it highlights the fact that although there is a relatively high level of psychopathology in the profession, this is not reflected in doctors' use of psychotherapy for themselves.

Doctors seem to have difficulty acknowledging that they are vulnerable, like everyone else, to psychological distress and would benefit from the psychotherapy they prescribe for others. Equally, their colleagues seem unsympathetic to …