Veterinarians are consistently one of the professions with the highest rates of suicide and depression in several countries. Portugal is the country in the world where professionals report the greatest stress, with 87% of clinicians experiencing stress.
For four decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main public health agency in the United States, investigated suicides among veterinarians.
The conclusion was that male veterinarians were twice as likely to kill themselves as the general population and women, 3.5 times.
The research with 11,629 veterinarians lasted from 1979 to 2015 and was published in 2019. During the study period, around 400 veterinarians committed suicide.
Studies from several countries have shown that the occurrence of suicides among veterinarians is higher than in the general population.
The authors of the CDC survey stated that anxiety and depression were routine among professionals in the field.
Another 2019 survey found that the causes could be, among other factors, easy access to a medicine used to euthanize animals.
In Australia, a study released in 2022 by the NGO Love Your Pet, Love Your Vet showed that the suicide rate among veterinarians was four times higher than the average in the country and revealed that 78% of animal owners, also called guardians, did not know this.
The search VetsSurvey 2021 concluded that Portugal is the country in the world with the highest level of stress in the veterinary field, reaching around 87% of professionals. Argentina (79%), Brazil (74%), the United States (71%) and the United Kingdom (70%) came next. The world average was 65%.
According to Jorge Cid, president of the Order of Veterinarians of Portugal, this profession is actually the one with the highest suicide rate in Portugal. “Based on the data we have, there will possibly be in the medical field but 10% burnout”, he revealed to in 2023.
A study by the Order also indicates that 25% of professionals have severe symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress and self-harm regularly. More than 15% admit to having thoughts about suicide.
In Brazil, psychologist Bianca Stevanin Gresele studied the risk factors for the mental health of clinical veterinarians who treat and perform surgeries on small animals, such as dogs and cats. Around 43% of graduates work in this area of veterinary medicine, according to the Demography of Veterinary Medicine in Brazil 2022 report.
According to the psychologist, the three main stress factors in the profession are emotional exhaustion with care, dealing with tutors emotionally shaken and balance personal and professional life.
A compassion fatigue it is a syndrome that affects professionals who deal with the suffering of others and suffer from physical and emotional exhaustion; lack of energy and enthusiasm; distancing from staff, friends, family and patients; disinterest; and depression.
Veterinarians and experts interviewed by BBC News Brasil help explain the mental health crisis among these professionals.
Around 46.6% of veterinarians declare compliance working hours exceeding 40 hours per weekaccording to the Demography of Veterinary Medicine in Brazil 2022.
The majority (52.7%) work independently, and many do not report abuse for fear of losing work or being “burned” in the market, according to professionals interviewed for the report.
“They think we are saints and treat teddy bears”
Professionals also complain that many pet owners still idealize veterinarians as a kind of “Saint Francis of Assisi in a robe” — the Catholic saint is the patron saint of animals.
“There is the idea that veterinarians is paid with love“, says anesthesiologist Adriana Patrícia Jorge. “They have to work for free, cannot charge or need to charge little, because the animal is an innocent, pure, defenseless being”, he continues. “But we don’t pay the bills with love.”
Adriana, 40 years old, lives in Vargem Grande Paulista (SP) and says she worked as a clinical veterinarian for eight years in a row. THE low salarythe lack of recognition and emotional overload almost made her give up her profession. But he decided to continue and specialized in applying anesthesia.
Adriana says she has colleagues who have had burnout. A friend of yours attempted suicide, and a fellow anesthetist took his own life.
“People think that veterinarians practice teddy bear medicine, but we take it with a grain of salt. poisoned animalsvictims of abuse, guardians who want to perform euthanasia for no reason, for convenience”, he says.
The “humanization” of animals that fosters the lucrative pet market also changes the relationship between professionals and clients, points out Teng Chei Tung, a collaborating professor at the Institute of Psychiatry at the Hospital das Clínicas at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of São Paulo (USP).
“Pet doctors have to deal with a demanding clientele, who see animals as children and who behave like parents“, says the psychiatrist.
The death of an animal “child” is not always seen as a natural step, highlights Ingrid Bueno Atayde.
“For many owners, the animal did not die because it was already 17 years old, because it had diabetes or cancer, but because the veterinarian was unable to keep it alive”, says Atayde.
Pressure for profit, machismo and mistreatment
Veterinarian from São Paulo Débora Pimenta, 33, says that one of the issues that wore her down to the limit of a burnout was the pressure from bosses for greater profit.
In more than one place where she worked as a clinician, Débora says she was tricked into offering procedures and medications that she considered unnecessary, in exchange for commissions.
“In certain places, we don’t work as veterinarians, but as sellers. I didn’t study veterinary medicine to be a saleswoman”, says Débora.
Tatiane Martins, 43 years old, says that she has been undergoing treatment since February for burnout that he had when working in a clinic in ABC São Paulo. Today, he serves dogs, cats and birds at home. His passion since childhood has been horses. But she doesn’t think about working with large animals, because she was the target of prejudice for being a woman.
“They said: ‘You won’t be able to handle them, you don’t know, you can’t deal with them’ [grandes animais]. Machismo prevails in the agricultural sector.“
Pathologist Claudia Momo, professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science at USP, closely followed many situations of mistreatment. She and her team at the college examine animal bodies that are sent by the police, other authorities and the USP Veterinary Hospital.
“We saw the total horror, with dead animals all over the farm, carcasses, twenty vultures in a single tree, bird feathers scattered across the farm… It was the smell of death”, he reports.
The weight of euthanasia
A study by researchers at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) published in 2023 showed that the practice of animal euthanasia has a negative impact on mental health of Brazilian veterinarians.
The presence of negative feelings resulting from the practice is frequent, as is emotional unpreparedness to carry it out.
Veterinarian Pierre Barnabé Escodro, associate professor at the Federal University of Alagoas (Ufal), highlights that euthanasia has an important connection with compassion fatigue.
“It’s a big exhaustion when there is an animal that did not need to be sacrificed, but ends up being sacrificed for the owner’s convenience”, says Escodro.
“Just as fatigue appears if euthanasia is advocated for public health reasons, for example, but opposed by activists.”
Get therapy and take care of spirituality These are paths that he follows and recommends to his colleagues to maintain their mental health, although he recognizes that few veterinarians seek the help of a psychologist.
| NOTE: If you have suicidal thoughts, please contact one of these Helplines | ||
|---|---|---|
| Line | Contacts | Time |
| 213 544 545 – 912 802 669 – 963 524 660 | 3:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. | |
| Free Green Line | 800 209 899 | 9:00 p.m.-12:00 p.m. |
| 228 323 535 | 4:00 p.m.-12:00 p.m. | |
| 800 209 899 | 4:00 p.m.-12:00 p.m. | |
| 222 030 707 | 9:00 p.m.-12:00 p.m. | |
| All these lines guarantee the anonymity of the caller and the person answering. | 800 209 899 | 800 209 899 |
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