Life Changing Moments: The Unseen Crisis: Healing the Healers with Dr. Stephanie Simmons

If you or a healthcare professional you know is struggling, confidential help is available:

• Physician Support Line: Call 1-888-409-0141. This is a national, free, and confidential support line staffed by volunteer psychiatrists.

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 anytime for immediate support from a trained counselor.

In the high-stakes world of medicine, the focus is relentlessly on patient care, often at the expense of the caregivers themselves. Physicians and healthcare workers face some of the highest rates of burnout, depression, and suicide of any profession, a crisis often shrouded in silence and stigma.

In this powerful episode of Life-Changing Moments, host Dr. Dale Waxman speaks with Dr. Stephanie Simmons, Chief Medical Officer of the Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation. Dr. Simmons shares her own deeply personal journey with mental health challenges during training and the difficult choice she made to avoid treatment for fear of professional repercussions. This experience fuels her vital work today.

Their conversation explores the pervasive cultural barriers that prevent healthcare workers from seeking help, the dangerous myth of the "perfect, invulnerable" clinician, and the profound disconnect between the care we prescribe for our patients and the care we allow ourselves. But this isn't just a story of struggle; it's a roadmap for change. Dr. Simmons discusses concrete, actionable steps—from reforming invasive licensing questions to building peer support systems—that are creating a new culture of medicine where seeking help is seen as a sign of strength, not a career-ending weakness. This is an essential listen for anyone in healthcare who has ever felt the weight of the system, and a hopeful look at how we can finally start to heal the healers.