Throughout the course of my childhood, I have settled on numerous professions. At first, I was going to be a doctor, a dentist, then, for some reason—a marine biologist. Soon after deciding I did not want to be any of those things, veterinary science crossed my mind. Most perceive a veterinary career as high paying… but at what cost?
In a profession filled with paranoid dog moms, pregnant house cats, and yet to be vaccinated puppies, there also lie strays, dumped animals with life threatening conditions, and owners who choose euthanasia over giving their pet a chance at survival. Although many vets find their jobs to be extremely rewarding and worth all of the downsides, there is a clear issue in the veterinary field: increased suicide rates. The toll this selfless career takes on mental health proves to be undoubtable due to high levels of stress and easy access to deadly drugs. (NPR).
Despite the amazing feeling of helping, “everyone, not just animals,” feel better, that happy feeling diminishes with the anxiety and stress that comes with it (Purdue). Not only do vets help pets, but they also help out their owners. When a caring owner comes to the vet seeking help for their beloved pet, stress lies on the veterinarian to save a life, but also comfort everyone involved. Oftentimes, “Veterinarians… deal with heartbreaking situations,” and the amount of losses they face can be extremely hard to manage (Roo).
Many factors spin into the web of pressure vets face in their day to day lives. Specifically, “work schedules, financial issues, client demands/expectations, and ethical dilemmas,” contribute significantly (PMC). Mixing long working hours, piles of debt, pressure, and unethical requests will overwhelm almost anyone. The difficulty of veterinary care goes unnoticed regularly, but the implications of the stress has caused a spike in mental health issues among the profession.
Unfortunately, the extreme pressures of veterinary practices leads to suicides more often than it should. The drug of choice also, more often than not, happens to be the very same medicine used in euthanizing their patients. Not only is suicide between 2 and 4 times more likely to happen to vets, the most common cause of death is poisoning through pentobarbital (CDC).
Regardless of the endless stress veterinarians face, suicide should be felt to be the only option they have to feel an ounce of peace in their lives. Though all of these stresses occur during vets day to day lives, it seems that pet owners main concern is the debt they will have after their pets receive the care that they need, disregarding the endless pressures their animal doctor faces. More people should be concerned about the true health of patients and doctors, instead of focusing on monetary value concerns that will never matter more than a life.