--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What do you do when you don't know what…" description: "\"What do you do when you don't know what to do? No wonder there are more suicides among psychiatrists than in any other profession.\" — R. D. Laing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/r-d-laing-4861_knows_what-do-you-do-when-you-don-t-know-what_2540336.jpg" --- # What do you do when you don't know what to do? No wonder… ![“What do you do when you don't know what to do? No wonder there are more suicides among psychiatrists than in any other profession.” quote by R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/r-d-laing-4861_knows_what-do-you-do-when-you-don-t-know-what_2540336.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/r-d-laing-4861_knows_what-do-you-do-when-you-don-t-know-what_2540336.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/r-d-laing-4861_knows_what-do-you-do-when-you-don-t-know-what_2540336.jpg) > “What do you do when you don't know what to do? No wonder there are more suicides among psychiatrists than in any other profession.” [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When uncertain, people may feel helpless, leading to despair and even suicide in high‑stress professions. **In simple terms:** Uncertainty can cause despair and suicide. Key Takeaway Seek guidance and support in uncertainty. Themes mental health existential crisis profession Mood somber empathetic Type psychological inspirational When to use this quote - clinical practice - career counseling - personal crisis - medical training Key Concepts psychology suicide stress management Questions to Reflect On - What resources help when you feel lost? - How can professions better support mental health? A Different Perspective Suicide rates vary for many factors, not just profession. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Psychiatrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychiatrist/) [Psychiatrists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychiatrists/) [Psychological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychological/) [Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide/) [Suicides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicides/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren't in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/sometimes-i-wonder-if-suicides-aren-t-in-fact-sad-guardians-of-the/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [A man who says that men are machines may be a great scientist. A man who says he is a machine is 'depersonalized' in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/a-man-who-says-that-men-are-machines-may-be-a-great-scientist-a-man/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [“It is not the least bit coincidental that adults who commit suicide with firearms nearly always shoot themselves in...the head. And the truth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-is-not-the-least-bit-coincidental-that-adults-who-commit-suicide/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“If anyone ever told five-year-olds the truth about life, he thought, there’d be a rash of kindergarten suicides. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-tracy/if-anyone-ever-told-five-year-olds-the-truth-about-life-he-thought/) [P.J. Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-tracy/) > [“Pilots have an established history of committing mass murder during their suicides.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/pilots-have-an-established-history-of-committing-mass-murder-during/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“Some people would have killed themselves and/or someone else if they were single; and some people would not have done that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-people-would-have-killed-themselves-and-or-someone-else-if-they/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“We're all suicides. The tragedy is every day that we don't die.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/we-re-all-suicides-the-tragedy-is-every-day-that-we-don-t-die/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [What annoys a person who suicides? The life itself. Boredom. Tiredness that descends on every morning when you look at yourself at the mirror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/what-annoys-a-person-who-suicides-the-life-itself-boredom-tiredness/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [“People commit thousands of small suicides every day that go unnoticed”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/people-commit-thousands-of-small-suicides-every-day-that-go-unnoticed/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [But suicides have a special language. Like carpenters they want to know which tools. They never ask why build. Twice I have so simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/but-suicides-have-a-special-language-like-carpenters-they-want-to/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [All my life I have had the utmost admiration for suicides. 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But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbi-glines/depressed-people-tended-to-end-things-on-special-occasions-and-party/) [Abbi Glines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbi-glines/) > [“Academic stress-related pre-birth suicides”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/academic-stress-related-pre-birth-suicides/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) ## More by R. D. Laing > [To live in the past or in the future may be less satisfying than to live in the present, but it can never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/to-live-in-the-past-or-in-the-future-may-be-less-satisfying-than-to/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [We must remember that we are living in an age in which the ground is shifting and the foundations are shaking. I cannot answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/we-must-remember-that-we-are-living-in-an-age-in-which-the-ground-is/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/we-live-in-a-moment-of-history-where-change-is-so-speeded-up-that-we/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Our behavior is a function of our experience. We act according to the way we see things. If our experience is destroyed, our behavior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/our-behavior-is-a-function-of-our-experience-we-act-according-to-the/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [How do we define, how do we describe, how do we explain and/or understand ourselves? What sort of creatures do we take ourselves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/how-do-we-define-how-do-we-describe-how-do-we-explain-and-or/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/there-is-a-great-deal-of-pain-in-life-and-perhaps-the-only-pain-that/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-range-of-what-we-think-and-do-is-limited-by-what-we-fail-to/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-range-of-what-we-think-and-do-is-limited-by-what-we-fail-to-notice/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [In the society of men the truth resides now less in what things are than in what they are not. Our social realities are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/in-the-society-of-men-the-truth-resides-now-less-in-what-things-are/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [The schizophrenic may indeed be mad. He is mad. He is not ill. I have been told by people who have been through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-schizophrenic-may-indeed-be-mad-he-is-mad-he-is-not-ill-i-have/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [What is to be done? We who are still half alive, living in the often fibrillating heartland of a senescent capitalism -- can we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/what-is-to-be-done-we-who-are-still-half-alive-living-in-the-often/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [From the alienated starting point of our pseudo-sanity, everything is equivocal. Our sanity is not "true" sanity. Their madness is not "true" madness. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/from-the-alienated-starting-point-of-our-pseudo-sanity-everything-is/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [In describing one way of going mad, I shall try to show that there is a comprehensible transition from the sane schizoid way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/in-describing-one-way-of-going-mad-i-shall-try-to-show-that-there-is/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Doctors have throughout time made fortunes on killing their patients with their cures. The difference in psychiatry is that it is the death of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/doctors-have-throughout-time-made-fortunes-on-killing-their-patients/) [R. D. 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I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. 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