Stress, anxiety and depression

• Forty percent of all work related illness in the UK is due to stress (ONS Labour Force Survey).
• Veterinarians may experience higher levels of anxiety, depressive symptoms and negative work-home interaction than the general population.
• Veterinarians in the UK are three to four times more likely than the general population to die by suicide.
• We don’t have good data for wellbeing in the rest of the veterinary practice team, but they share some of the same stressors, and are affected by others as well.
• It’s important to remember that stress is usually transient and can improve given sufficient rest and support.
• It’s important to acknowledge stress and take action, and not ignore it, as left untreated stress can become chronic and can sometimes contribute to other mental health difficulties.
• What causes difficulties of wellbeing for veterinarians?
  • Difficulties with work life balance, long hours, expectations, financial pressures, managerial aspects of the job, and other factors can make it difficult to prioritize our wellbeing.
  • There are physical risks in veterinary work too and traumatic injury can have psychological consequences as well as physical.
  • We provide emotional and psychological support to others as part of our work but may not have good support ourselves.
• There is evidence that certain sub groups of the profession may be at particular risk of psychological difficulties.
  • One of these groups is people who work alone. 

If you feel like you are struggling, you are not alone. There is support available, and people who want to help – see the last section of this article.

Five tips for self-care

Five tips for supporting colleagues

Places to seek help

Further Reading