How’s Your Vet’s Mental Health? (Part One)
Veterinary medicine is a rewarding career. I have the privilege of caring for and helping pets every day. It is fun.
It also is stressful.
The profession sometimes is idealized in the public’s mind as a dream job in which one is paid to play with (and heal) dogs and cats. But there are aspects of veterinary medicine that aren’t a dream come true. Some pets don’t realize that the veterinary team is trying to help them. These animals may bite or scratch out of fear. Others are sick and can’t control their bowels or bladder. My clothing has been soiled by urine and feces countless times.
No reasonable person can blame an animal for being scared at the vet’s office, or for being too sick to control its bowels or bladder. But there are other forms of stress. Sometimes financial constraints make it impossible for vets to provide the best level of care. In other cases, we are able to run all of the necessary tests and perform all of the necessary treatments, yet our patients don’t get better.
Clients may be rude, surly, or even intoxicated. They sometimes threaten to sue if their animal does not make a complete recovery, but then forbid the attending veterinarian to treat the animal appropriately.
Hours generally are long. Remuneration is poor when compared with doctors who are trained to treat only one species.
Don’t get me wrong. Being a veterinarian is a great job. Becoming a vet is worth the effort. But veterinary medicine is a lot of work, and it can be stressful.
According to an article published recently in DVM Newsmagazine, some veterinarians handle the stress in an unhealthy way.
Job stress puts veterinarians at risk of binge drinking, drug use, study says
Hamburg, Germany — Veterinarians experience a high degree of psychosocial stress and demoralization linked to factors such as long hours with little free time, tough clients and difficulty balancing their private and professional lives, according to a team of researchers in Germany.
The group’s findings, based on a questionnaire answered by 1,060 practicing veterinarians in northern Germany in 2006, were published in BioMed Central’s latest Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, a peer-reviewed, open-access online journal.Psychosocial stress among the respondents increased in proportion to work-related problems and lack of personal and family time, with many showing classic signs of demoralization, such as lack of optimism, dissatisfaction and little confidence or pride in themselves, said the researchers, led by Melanie Harling, from the Institution for Statutory Accident Insurance and Prevention in Hamburg.
The study also found complex links between the work stress and drug use, binge drinking and tobacco use. Practicing veterinarians were more frequently affected by work-related stress and were at greater risk of alcohol or drug consumption than those in non-clinical settings, such as industry or the public sector, the authors found.
Does this mean that your vet is an alcoholic or a drug addict? Of course not. I’m not convinced that vets have higher rates of substance abuse than members of other stressful professions (the article mentions nothing about lawyers, dentists, or “real” doctors, but I’ll bet that the rates are similar). I have known a few vets who had problems, but they have been few and far between.
Nonetheless, it is food for thought.
Photo credit: Ken30684. Photo license: CC.
You have questions. 
This is why I routinely take homemade chocolate chip cookies and other treats into the clinic where my dogs are seen. I know both vets personally now and I know pretty much all the staff/techs by name. One of the techs is a very close friend of mine. An extremely competent veterinarian whom you also personally like and trust is just too good of a find not to make sure I do everything I can to keep her life as stress-free as possible :-)
I *know* that MDs have a very high incidence of drug problems! There are numerous anonymous programs for them to seek help. Yes it is a good thing for them to be able to seek help without it effecting their practice but on the other hand, wouldn’t you want to know if your doctor was addicted to oxycontin? I hadn’t thought of a veterinarian being in that same category because I assumed it had a lot to do w/ easy pharmaceutical access?
The small vet’s office that we go to (two vet’s and a few technicians who double as office people/receptionists) recently switched their hours from being open on Saturdays to extended evenings twice a week. The main vet, who owns the practice, has a daughter and wanted to spend more time with her.
Most larger offices don’t have that luxury.
In today’s instant gratification society clients expect us to be open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It seems more and more difficult to balance work and family life. Its scary to try and close on Saturdays when the neighoring clinc is open Saturday and Sunday.
As a patient who has to work to beable to afford the vet I would like to see a vet be opedend from 4pm to 10 pm I would also like to see vets working to gether to provide the services needed in different locations. i.e. : not being afraid to say look I’m closed at the time your looking for but may I suggest to you to see DR such and such at this location, we will share your file so that if ever he is closed and I am opened you can see me and I will have your history.
I think this would work wonderfully. But then again I may live in a dream world.
I don’t think many clients realized how hard some veterinarians and their staff work at caring for their patients as well as the clients. Many clients complain about the lack of 24 hours emergency service from their RDVM. I would much rather have a well-rested veterinarian operate on my pet than one that was called 3 times in the early morning hours the night before due client’s percieved emergencies and hasn’t gotten any sleep and expected to put in another 12 hours at the hospital. Thank goodness for veterinary emergency hospitals, they give our RDVM a chance to refresh and recharge every night for their next day of business. Suicide rates are quite high for veterinarians too. I know of a vet I used to work with that took her own life recently. Please be nice to your veterinarian today and if you don’t like them then find one you do like. Not all vets are created equal.