Statistics show veterinarians at greater risk than the general public to be suicidal

More support needed for veterinarians Mental health experts say more needs to be done to help veterinarians who are much more at risk of suicide. Jordan Kanygin reports.

Mental health experts are sounding the alarm over figures that indicate veterinarians are almost four times as likely to commit suicide than the general population.

The research, compiled by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, shows that because of the stress related to the profession and the fact they often work alone in small clinics, veterinarians are much more likely to attempt to take their own lives.

Dr. Lorenza Malaguti, an emergency veterinarian has worked for four years at the McKnight Veterinary Hospital in Calgary.

She says her shifts are normally very long, almost 13 or 14 hours at a time, and can often go overnight.

“They are intensive shifts. You don’t get to sit down, you don’t get to stop and it’s constant; there’s always emergencies coming in.”

Dr. Malaguti says the conditions of the patients are variable as well because some are well enough to go home while others could be very sick and may be in need of surgery.

“When I talk to more veterinarians who are emergency-based, I think that’s where we find the hardest cases and we have the hardest time coping sometimes, because of the cases that we see and the emotions that we have to deal with on an average day.”

She says, at the end of the day, the profession can be quite difficult to manage.

Experts say there are a lot of factors that lead to mental health issues for veterinarians.

“The elements of compassion fatigue and burnout is pretty significant, especially when you have to deal with something that’s impactful for people’s pets,” said Cindy Negrello, executive leader of community and clinical mental health at the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Negrello says there is a lot of emotion involved in making a decision to put a pet down and that affects those medical professionals.

“If they’re a compassionate veterinarian, they take that on in their energy within their system and their well-being. So, with that, that causes other things and other factors for a person’s well-being to occur. They can impact your sleep, your nutrition, your level of family and social support and social connections.”

She says 19 percent of veterinarians in Canada seriously considered suicide and nine percent actually made attempts.

“Those type of statistics are quite significant for veterinarians in Canada,” Negrello says.

Dr. Malaguti says she and a lot of her colleagues have their own coping mechanisms to assist in their mental health.

“Some people will go home, have a glass of wine. Some people will take the weekend and go out hiking in the mountains, myself included. Some people will go on vacation more often than not. In this kind of industry, you do need to find that coping mechanism.”

Not a lot of people recognize how difficult her position is and Dr. Malaguti says she’s thankful whenever she hears from someone who does.

“They frankly look at you and they say ‘I realize what you’re going through and realize what you’re doing for my pet and how much you care’ and they see that and that’s always very appreciated.”

The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and Canadian Mental Health Association both provide a great deal of support to veterinarians and their mental health, but there continues to be a stigma about speaking on the subject.

(With files from Jordan Kanygin)