Presents evidence that women psychiatrists are at increased risk for affective disorders. In 1 sample, women psychiatrists had 47 times the completed suicide rate of the general population. Indications of distress are explained in terms of psychodynamic & sociocultural factors influencing both the woman’s decision to enter medicine & psychiatry, & her experience & reaction to events in training & practice, including discrimination, lack of role models, fear of success & a non-traditional role.