Veterinarians have a unique relationship with death, due to their close proximity to it, and many have cited this as a reason they consider suicide, writes Ada McVean.
Studies find that veterinarians are between 4 and 8 times more likely to take their lives than the general population. This isn’t the case for their human treating counterparts, nor for other graduate degree holders.
Source: McGill Office for Science and Society, August 6, 2018. Link.
Veterinarians are the first line response for cases of animal abuse and are responsible for reporting when they think an animal is being abused. But these reports aren’t always taken seriously by law enforcements.
INSIGHTS: We continue to study our professionals’ risks for suicide. Interesting to me was the point that 90 percent of veterinarians approve of human euthanasia and how that may relate to the use of poisons for suicide.