Blog: It's not all puppies and kittens...why being a vet can be tough
Blog from Dr Rosie Allister is the manager of Vetlife Helpline and a researcher in veterinary wellbeing at The University of Edinburgh.
The veterinary profession has a suicide rate three to four times that of the general population. Some people say this is just due to access to suicide methods as part of the job, but this isn’t the whole story.
Vets and vet students are more likely to consider suicide than the general population, and to experience psychological distress.
Being a vet can be tough. The assumptions people have about veterinary work are sometimes a long way from reality. I’ve heard people say that it’s all puppies and kittens, high salaries, and James Herriot.
Studying veterinary medicine requires huge commitment, and particularly for students studying it as a second degree, can mean significant debt.
Training requirements for 36 weeks of work placements during University holidays mean that it’s hard to do paid work during training. Placements also come with costs and this may limit who can join the profession, and places pressures on those who do.
Once graduated, pressures of debt can continue, veterinary salaries often don’t match public expectation, and are significantly lower than other medical counterparts with similar training.
The pressures are not only financial though, career structure for vets is less defined than in professions such as medicine, and support for new graduates varies.
The unpredictability of veterinary working hours may contribute to the difficulty of balancing work with other aspects of life; studies suggest vets are more likely to experience negative work home interaction than the general population.
Other aspects of veterinary work can be stressful too. Vets need to be compassionate and empathetic to be good vets, but they also need to be able to keep some level of detachment to cope with suffering and death, and supporting animal owners who are bereaved or suffering too.
Some vets worry that mental health problems will be seen as a fitness to practice issue, or that clients would not trust them with their animals if they knew that they were struggling.
Vets often make huge sacrifices for their job, and that in itself can undermine wellbeing. Sometimes the things that vets feel they need to sacrifice are the things that can help to protect wellbeing.
Veterinary culture also requires that vets be strong, omni-competent, flawless. Strength is often seen as independence and not needing help from others. The opposite is true, it takes real strength to ask for help in a culture where it’s difficult to do that.
When I started volunteering for Vetlife Helpline ten years ago, I thought that I could give something back. What I didn’t realise then is that actually it’s a huge privilege. I’m inspired by vets, who despite feeling pressure to cope alone, manage to call us and talk, and find a way through difficult times.
Suicide is never inevitable, and our response to risk needs to include making sure that everyone in the veterinary profession has access to help, and feels able to ask for it.
Three tips for vets:
Don’t only be a vet; keep other things that are good for wellbeing in your life that have no connection to veterinary work – protect time for it and make the most of it when things get difficult
Talk; whether it’s to friends and family, colleagues, or anonymous support like Vetlife Helpline
Look out for others, and take all distress seriously; if you are worried about a veterinary professional ask if they are ok, listen, and support them.
Organisations who can offer mental health support for vets:
Vetlife For confidential support members of the profession can call the Vet Helpline on 0303 040 2551 where calls are answered 24-hours a day by trained volunteers who have experience of the profession. Alternatively, they can use a confidential email service which can be accessed through https://helpline.vetlife.org.uk.
The Samaritans operate a service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, if you want to talk to someone in confidence.