Mental Health in Veterinary Practice

Let’s talk about hot current issue, the part of every body and every human being. It’s also sensitive and essential for some people. Yup, that’s Mental Health, specifically in Veterinary Practice world.

First of all, we have to know the definition of Mental Health itself. 

Mental health is the capacity of each and all of us to feel, think, and act in ways that enhance our ability to enjoy life and deal with the challenges we face. It is a positive sense of emotional and spiritual well-being that respects the importance of culture, equity, social justice, interconnections and personal dignity (WHO, 2001)¹.

The main point of Mental Health awareness is how we approach the individual with some standards, like: equality, respect, and kindness. Those aspects could be categorize as quality than quantity. There’s no certain number and law which legitimate presume how people must be done it. Not only norm, but also society can give different perspective of Metal Health.

Approaching the idea of being health in mentality is bias. Some people get depressed and assume to be introverts. Other people tried to banish their problems with unlimited happiness. The diagnosing of unhealthy condition must be done by the expert like physician or mental health professional.

Determining mental illness sometimes is difficult, and it’s challenging to find out which mental illness may be causing your symptoms. But taking the time and effort to get an accurate diagnosis will help determine the appropriate treatment. The more information you have, the more you will be prepared to work with your mental health professional in understanding what your symptoms may represent (Mayo Clinic)².

Focusing on mental health issues in veterinary practice. I will share some data and surprising facts about it.

According to Times.com³, the job challenges that more than 70,000 veterinarians in the U.S. face have led to disproportionately high suicide rates, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly 400 veterinarians died by suicide between 1979 and 2015, according to a CDC study published in January that analyzed more than 11,000 veterinarian death records in that timeframe. The study also found that female veterinarians are up to 3.5 times more likely to kill themselves than members of the general population.

The main factor of depression and serious mental health problem related to burn out and over load work. Burnout is measured using two scales that represent two dimensions of work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement, respectively. Professional fulfillment also declined; comparative analysis revealed that veterinary professionals were feeling even less happy, worthy, and satisfied at work, as compared to the previous year. The most common number of appointments was 11–20 per day (34.6% of respondents) and 21–30 per day (25.8% of respondents); every tenth respondent attended to over 50 patients daily. The analysis found that as the caseload increased, so did one’s burnout, signaling that work overload is one of the burnout contributors (American Animal Association Hospital)⁴.

In Indonesia as my home country, we have an instagram account named @vet_mentalhealth⁵. The purpose of the profile is for sharing the stories and personal problems due to our professional job in veterinary field. The account managed by individual person, since there’s not association of the topic. The issue hasn’t talk in public or official forum. Especially for new colleagues, facing professional life alone with lack of good mentorship. It always brings thought moments, such as stress, depression, anxiety, burnout, etc.

Knowing the unhealthy relationship between our mind and other factors may find a way to prevent mental health issues. We can’t control other people and external factors, but only our self. Regarding the uncontrolled situation in the future, I suggest to make boundaries and give more space for discussion. Be more open and set lower expectation of the circle. May peace be upon you.

 

Last but not least, find professional help if the mental health issue is getting serious and lead big impact to your personal life. Thank you

 

 

 

 

Source:

¹ WHO. Mental health: strengthening mental health promotion, 2001; Fact Sheet No. 220 Geneva, Switzerland, 2001. Updated August 2014: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs220/en/ [Google Scholar] [Ref list]

² https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20374974

³ https://time.com/5670965/veterinarian-suicide-help/

⁴ https://www.aaha.org/publications/newstat/articles/2021-11/new-burnout-study-confirms-what-we-already-figured-it-was-bad-before-the-pandemic-and-its-worse-now/

⁵ https://www.instagram.com/vet_mentalhealth/