Choosing Care · 10 min read
Healthcare workers and mental health: getting help privately
Healthcare workers carry some of the highest rates of burnout and depression of any group, and they're among the least likely to get help. The barriers are specific: no time, a culture that treats needing care as weakness, being known everywhere you'd go for treatment, and a long-standing fear that a diagnosis could threaten a license or credentials. Much of that fear is now outdated, and private, timely care is more reachable than it used to be.
Written under the clinical direction of Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA, board certified psychiatrist · Last updated October 18, 2026 · Editorial policy
From my practice · Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA
Why I take clinician patients seriously on privacy
Healthcare workers often arrive having waited far too long, precisely because their instinct was that there was nowhere private to go. I take that concern seriously rather than waving it off, because for them it's real.
I also tell them the licensing fear is usually outdated now, and that the version of them everyone should worry about is the one who keeps pushing through untreated, not the one who finally got care.
The short answer
The people who care for everyone else are often the worst at getting care themselves, and it isn't for lack of insight. Healthcare workers face real, specific obstacles that keep them from treatment they'd recommend to any patient in a heartbeat.
Two things have changed the picture: the old licensing fears are largely outdated, and private, remote care makes confidentiality and timing far easier than they used to be.
The scale of the problem
This isn't a soft issue. Federal data show healthcare workers reporting high rates of burnout, poor mental health days, and harassment, with numbers that worsened in recent years. Physicians, nurses, and others across the field carry elevated rates of depression, and the profession has long struggled with suicide risk.
The demands are real: long hours, life-and-death stakes, moral injury when the system won't let you do right by patients, and a culture that rewards absorbing all of it without complaint.
Why they don't get help
Several forces stack up. Time, or the lack of it, when your schedule barely allows a lunch break. Stigma, in a culture where needing care can feel like admitting you can't handle the job. Exposure, since the local options are often colleagues or your own health system, where privacy feels impossible. And the big one, fear that a diagnosis or treatment could surface in licensing or credentialing.
Each of these is a genuine barrier. Together they explain why so many clinicians white-knuckle problems they'd treat in anyone else.
The licensing question, honestly
This fear deserves a direct answer, because it's often based on outdated information. For years, some medical boards and credentialing applications asked broad questions about any past mental health diagnosis or treatment, which discouraged people from seeking care. That's been changing.
A national effort, tied to the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, has pushed boards and hospitals to remove intrusive questions and ask only about current impairment that affects your ability to practice, which is the appropriate standard. Many states and institutions have already updated their language. Getting treatment for depression or anxiety isn't the same as being impaired, and increasingly the paperwork reflects that. Check your specific board and employer, but the blanket fear is largely obsolete.
What private care looks like
The practical solution to the exposure problem is care outside your own system. Telepsychiatry lets you see a clinician who isn't a colleague, from home, on a schedule that fits shift work, without walking into a clinic where you might be recognized. Cash-pay care adds another layer of privacy by keeping the visit off an insurance claim entirely.
For a group whose biggest practical barriers are time and exposure, remote, private, flexible care removes most of them at once.
Getting help is part of the job
There's a reframe worth stating plainly. Caring for your own mental health isn't a betrayal of the work, it's what lets you keep doing it well, and safely, for patients. The impaired clinician everyone worries about is far more likely to be the one who never got help than the one who did.
If you've been carrying something you'd treat in a patient, that's a sign, not a failing.
How shrinkMD serves healthcare workers
shrinkMD provides private telepsychiatry by secure video, outside your own health system, with scheduling built for demanding jobs and the option to pay cash so care stays off an insurance claim. We work with clinicians and other professionals who need discretion and timing.
See our healthcare workers page, and you can start care when you're ready. If you're in crisis, call or text 988.
Key takeaways
Five things to remember
- Healthcare workers have high rates of burnout and depression but are among the least likely to get help.
- Barriers include time, stigma, exposure in their own systems, and fears about licensing and credentialing.
- Many boards and hospitals have removed intrusive questions to focus on current impairment, not past treatment, so the blanket licensing fear is largely outdated.
- Private telepsychiatry outside your own system, with cash-pay if you want, makes confidential, timely care realistic.
Go deeper across The Shrink Network
You are here: shrinkMD, the clinical care layer of The Shrink Network.
Each site in the network has one job. No matter where you enter, we help you find the next step that makes sense.
Want to understand more first?
- Shrinkiatry: Physician and clinician mental health programs
- Shrinkiatry: Why psychiatrists burn out
- Shrinkiatry: The limits of confidentiality in psychiatry
These sites and shrinkMD are part of The Shrink Network, founded by Shariq Refai, MD.
Keep exploring
Keep reading, or take the next step
Frequently asked questions
Good questions, clear answers
Do healthcare workers have high rates of mental health problems?
Yes. Federal data show healthcare workers reporting high rates of burnout, poor mental health, and harassment, with elevated rates of depression and long-standing suicide risk across the profession.
Will getting mental health treatment affect my medical license?
Increasingly, no. A national effort tied to the Dr. Lorna Breen Act has pushed boards and hospitals to remove intrusive questions and ask only about current impairment that affects practice. Getting treated for depression or anxiety isn't the same as being impaired. Check your specific board, but the blanket fear is largely outdated.
How can healthcare workers get mental health care privately?
Telepsychiatry outside your own health system lets you see a clinician who isn't a colleague, from home, on a schedule that fits shift work. Paying cash keeps the visit off an insurance claim for added privacy.
Why don't doctors and nurses seek mental health help?
Time, stigma in a culture that rewards toughness, exposure when local options are colleagues or their own system, and fear that treatment could surface in licensing. These barriers, not a lack of insight, drive low use.
Does shrinkMD work with healthcare workers?
Yes. shrinkMD provides private telepsychiatry outside your own system, with flexible scheduling and the option to pay cash so care stays off an insurance claim.
About the author
Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA
I'm a board certified psychiatrist and the founder of shrinkMD, a telepsychiatry platform built around access, continuity, and clinical rigor. My work focuses on helping people understand their mental health clearly and thoughtfully, without rushing to conclusions or shortcuts. I have clinical experience across a range of settings, including work with high-performing individuals and professional athletes, and I remain committed to care that's careful, individualized, and grounded in sound clinical judgment. shrinkMD provides psychiatric care across multiple licensed states in the US, with an emphasis on responsible telepsychiatry and long-term continuity.
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