Depression and Suicide Rates High Among Veterinarians

In 2009, an Australian study found that young veterinarians experience a, "a significantly higher level of general psychological distress, work-related anxiety and depression." Approximately 1/3 of the veterinarians sampled "reported poor psychological health." Meanwhile, a paper by Dr. Richard Mellanby published in the October 2005 Veterinary Record found that suicide rates for British veterinarians were 4 times higher than those compared to people from the regular population and 2 times higher than those of doctors and dentists, concluding that British veterinarians had the highest suicide incidence rate of any profession in the UK. In addition, a 2008 study in the Australian Veterinary Journal found that veterinarians were 4 times more likely to commit suicide than someone from the general population. It leads one to wonder why our profession has such high rates.

Working long hours, enduring psychological stress and coping with high client expectations, performing euthanasias, experiencing compassion fatigue and burnout are all factors that increase the risk of suicide for our profession. Easy access to lethal drugs is also a large risk factor - while over 80% of veterinarians use drugs to commit suicide, only about 30% of the general population chooses to end their lives this way.

Although these studies were based on veterinarians working in other countries, do you feel these statistics have any relevance to you? Do you have coworkers who struggle with depression or have you personally experienced burnout or compassion fatigue?

Resources

1. Science Daily

2. Horseman's Corral

3. Medical News Today