84% of veterinarians feel depressed, anxious and irritable – 04/17/2023 – Mental Health

An unprecedented survey in Brazil, designed to map the mental health of small animal veterinarians, revealed that 84% of these professionals feel anxious, depressed or irritable.

The survey was commissioned by pharmaceutical MSD Saúde Animal (a division of the American Merck & Co) and conducted by Kynetec, a company specializing in global market research in animal health and agriculture. 1,993 veterinarians were consulted between June 28 and July 26, 2022, from all regions of the country, who answered an online questionnaire.

Respondents were between 25 and 65 years old, with 44% aged between 25 and 34 years old, and 30% between 35 and 44 years old. In the breakdown by gender, 78% responded female and 22% male. The race or ethnicity of most respondents were white (76%), brown (19%), black/Afro-descendant (3%) and Asian (2%).

Regarding the average monthly income, the value ranged from R$ 1,300 to R$ 16 thousand, but the most cited were up to R$ 3,3 thousand (36%) and from R$ 3,3 thousand to R$ 6 thousand ( 27%).

Psychologist Bianca Gresele, who was the research advisor and investigates in her doctoral thesis what are the risk factors for the mental health of small animal veterinarians in Brazil, says that the objective of the survey was to remedy the lack of information about the demands emotions of these professionals and, based on the results, develop actions that improve the quality of life and working conditions.

Gresele says that based on his experience in the area and the results of similar studies that Merck has carried out in the United States in recent years, the high rate of depressive and anxious symptoms in veterinarians that the Brazilian survey showed are not surprising.

“From my field of activity, from living with veterinarians on a daily basis, both in the classroom and in clinics and hospitals, from what I hear from them, I already imagined that these rates would be high”, he says.

One of the conditions that affects professionals is compassion fatigue, which is defined as a constant state of concern for the suffering of others and has symptoms similar to burnout.

“Compassion fatigue is a syndrome that affects workers who are involved in the act of caring. In addition to veterinarians, it is common in other health professionals, such as doctors, nurses and psychologists. But it can also affect teachers, police officers , firefighters and social workers”, observes Gresele.

Another highlight presented by the survey is that, for 74% of the participants, the need to perform euthanasia is one of the most difficult moments in the profession.

For Gresele, this reflects a failure of the faculties of veterinary medicine, which do not offer disciplines that address the grieving process, preparing for the loss of a patient, communicating bad news, among other issues that involve the mental health of university students and future professionals. “Students go into clinical practice with the mindset that they are there only to save these animals, and the veterinarian is one of the professionals who deal most with death on a daily basis”, she emphasizes.

The survey also showed that the level of stress is one of the main challenges for 93% of veterinarians, and for 72% of them it is a critical issue. Another worrying factor is work overload: 50% of respondents work more hours than they would like, and 42% work always or often on weekends, holidays or at night.

Despite the emotional demands, most participants (90%) say they believe that treatment aimed at mental health helps them to have a healthier life, but 68% of them do not have psychotherapy sessions, although 40% indicated that they wanted to undergo a treatment in the last 12 months, but failed. Of the respondents, 77% do not have an employee assistance program in their workplace.

“The results of this study show how important it is that not only universities, but also veterinary hospitals, clinics and large companies in the area look at the mental health of veterinarians and create strategies to deal with these issues. It is a responsibility of these institutions as well , we have to stop placing this responsibility solely on the shoulders of individuals”, says the psychologist.

Daniela Baccarin, veterinarian and manager of strategic solutions and medical-veterinary services at MSD Saúde Animal, the pharmaceutical company that commissioned the survey, explains that “the market, in general, shows signs of the search for knowledge and psycho-emotional support”.

“To contribute in a very assertive way, we decided to do the research to have data and understand exactly how to support”, he says.

One method developed by the company is the mental health course, which is part of the MSD University, created in 2010.

“The first module, with four classes, brings an introduction to mental health, the importance of self-knowledge and well-being and quality of life. The second, with five classes, addresses depression, anxiety, burnout and suicide. the third, with nine classes, promotes topics such as the grieving process, loss of pets, stressful factors in the profession, communication in the area and how to communicate bad news”, he says.

Also with the aim of offering emotional support to veterinarians, psychologist Bianca Gresele founded two years ago, together with a team of professionals in the field, Ekôa Vet, the first Brazilian association for mental health in veterinary medicine.

“No association of this type existed here in Brazil. In the United States there is No One More Vet, of which I am affiliated”, says Gresele.

The three main pillars of Ekôa Vet, reports the psychologist, are to inform, provide welcome and raise awareness about the issue of mental health in veterinary medicine.

One of the purposes of the project is to combat untrue information about the profession, with a survey released about ten years ago that said that veterinarians were among the professionals who most committed suicide. “In Brazil, there is not even a reliable database to reach such a conclusion”, he points out.

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