Mental Health in the Veterinary Field

We talk often about burnout and suicide in healthcare in general, but Veterinary medicine is often left out of this conversation.

It is one of the few fields of medicine that also handles end of life care, but unlike human medicine, these professionals are often also the ones who administer the lethal doses to end a life, often much too soon. This is referred to as the “caring/killing paradox”.

In this field, the professionals from the Veterinarians, to the veterinary technicians, to the veterinary assistants all have a hand in caring for an animal. They have highly specialized knowledge and training for multiple species and see some truly horrific things due to how animals can be treated.

As you can imagine, this can take a toll on even the most passionate among them. Veterinary medicine has one of the highest rates of suicide among medical professionals, slightly higher than dentistry.

There are great resources to utilize if you find yourself in the field and feeling overwhelmed. One of the most well known is Not One More Vet (NOMV) and there are therapy practices that specialize in providing services to professionals in the area. For northeast Ohio, there are not a lot of listed mental health professionals that can assist.

Dryad Counseling is attempting to fill that gap. DC offers in-house and online presentations on mental health specifically for the veterinary professionals in the area and is working with a local veterinary clinic to understand their needs. If you are a veterinary professional and want to know more, please email zpichler@dryadcounseling.com for more information.

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