Questions about veterinary medicine and mental health

[lynne8832]

Hi everyone! I will be a sophomore in undergrad this coming fall and I have been interning at a local small animal practice for about a month and they just hired me full time (yay!) Before this internship, I did not have much clinical experience and although I love animals and medicine, I didn't have a lot of knowledge about what the veterinary profession truly entails. Since I became interested in vet med, I have researched and learned about the alarming rates of mental illness and suicide in the veterinary profession as I believe it is very important to understand all aspects of the profession, including the challenges that it may present. After spending about a month and a half at this internship, I have fallen in love with vet med, but I can see how it would be very easy to become depressed when you are faced with sick patients, difficult decisions, and sometimes difficult clients. My question is, is becoming a veterinarian worth the risk of mental illness and what are some techniques that I can use throughout school (undergrad and vet school) and my professional life to pursue my passion and dreams without compromising my mental health? I know that this can be a difficult and sensitive topic but I truly appreciate any and all answers! 🙂

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[MixedAnimals77]

Hi everyone! I will be a sophomore in undergrad this coming fall and I have been interning at a local small animal practice for about a month and they just hired me full time (yay!) Before this internship, I did not have much clinical experience and although I love animals and medicine, I didn't have a lot of knowledge about what the veterinary profession truly entails. Since I became interested in vet med, I have researched and learned about the alarming rates of mental illness and suicide in the veterinary profession as I believe it is very important to understand all aspects of the profession, including the challenges that it may present. After spending about a month and a half at this internship, I have fallen in love with vet med, but I can see how it would be very easy to become depressed when you are faced with sick patients, difficult decisions, and sometimes difficult clients. My question is, is becoming a veterinarian worth the risk of mental illness and what are some techniques that I can use throughout school (undergrad and vet school) and my professional life to pursue my passion and dreams without compromising my mental health? I know that this can be a difficult and sensitive topic but I truly appreciate any and all answers! 🙂

The question of if it is worth it is a personal evaluation and only one you can make. Not necessarily from a mental health perspective but currently I can say as of completing first year if I would've failed out or got kicked out for some reason and got the chance to repeat I would not. That answer would probably be different if I failed out year 3 instead. There are lots of tools in undergrad and especially vet school-most vet schools have counselors dedicated specifically to vet students only. So there is help and support for sure in vet school. Most schools for undergrad have counselors of some sorts that you can seek out. However, it's ultimately up to you to recognize that you need help. At least at my vet school everyone is very supportive and SAVMA has wellness weeks during heavy exam weeks and of the two schools I have attended have wellness weeks during finals weeks. Also I think a big chunk of the picture you didn't mention was the crushing debt that most veterinarians come out with. As far compromising your mental health I guess that depends on your definition, being essentially on high stress alert for 4 years of vet school and all the stressing before so another 4ish years is that going to compromise your mental health? For me I think I'm slightly cynical or maybe because I'm more type B in comparison to my classmates I haven't been effected yet-however almost perpetual exhaustion from doing all the things is perpetual. A close classmate of mine has anxiety, depression, ADD, and is slightly dyslexic something she struggled with and recognized early in undergrad. She got the help she needed. She doesn't always function on all cylinders during heavy test weeks and we recognize that and be as supportive as we can be, but she has been doing fine. On the other hand I know others who got depressed with school, but they got help and are doing great. As is well known though, just because they are doing fine, doesn't mean you will. A friend of mine at another school lost a classmate. A practice back home lost a brand new grad. It's something that is well recognized and a cause many people are dedicated to. You also need to consider the worst case scenario-ie not making it through the program and getting stuck with no degree and all the debt or graduating with over 400k in debt (second scenario is avoidable if you go to your cheapest school (ie not a private or really expensive OOS) and live modestly). Anyway I'm sure other's have input on it. It can be a very rewarding profession, but it's also very demanding in many ways with many pitfalls along the way. I know that was a wish-wash answer, but the truth.

 

[ajs513]

I can only offer my advice about mental health in general, having had severe issues for years with anxiety and depression. Seek help early and go all in on getting help. By that I mean go to a therapist. Someone who can break down the reasons behind your mental health issues and give you tools to work through it effectively. For many people (myself included) going to a psychiatrist while also going to therapy is the most effective way to get a handle on your mental health. You might not be able to handle issues you face on your own, and that’s okay. Mental health isn’t taboo anymore for the most part. In fact, at the financial aid seminar, the financial aid director at Penn handed out stress balls with the information for psychiatric services on them. During my interview, I was asked how I would manage my mental health since things would be very stressful. I discussed therapy and psychiatry and how they’ve been great tools for me and my interviewers were very pleased to hear that. Yes, everyone says that vet school is stressful and that this field can weigh on your mental health. However, you’re in control of the help you choose to seek, and you should seek as much help as you feel you need to get yourself into the right state of mind. If that means switching doctors a few times until you find that right one, go for it. But don’t be afraid to look for outside help. For many people it’s the only thing that will actually help.

 

[ajs513]

Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate you sharing your experience with me. Honestly after interning for a month and a half the thing that I think I would struggle the most with is having to make life or death decisions for animals and possibly second guessing myself and my decisions. I am extremely lucky and my parents have agreed to cover all of undergrad and most of vet school for me and I understand that this will take a HUGE burden off of me and I am extremely grateful for that. The thing that I think would be most difficult for me would be seeing helpless animals in distress. I know that sounds kind of cliche but it breaks my heart to see animals in pain and I hope that I can handle that if I do become a vet.

One thing that you’ll learn if you stick with it is that you absolutely, 100% cannot help every animal that crosses your path (at least in a way that keeps that animal living). There are tons of reasons why, ranging from something like it having a condition that just can’t be cured, to having owners who don’t want to/can’t afford to help a curable condition. I’ve only been working in veterinary medicine for three years and not even in an emergency setting where you would see that far more often, and I’ve seen tons of animals who I really wanted to help but couldn’t. It’s horrible at first. Over time, though, people usually learn to get past it and accept it as something that can’t be changed. That doesn’t make it easy to deal with, but it makes it easier. I’ve had friends who couldn’t handle the emotional aspect of veterinary medicine and switched majors. And that’s okay. It really isn’t for everyone, and you mainly find out if it’s for you by gaining experience.

 

[Cobyology]

Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate you sharing your experience with me. Honestly after interning for a month and a half the thing that I think I would struggle the most with is having to make life or death decisions for animals and possibly second guessing myself and my decisions. I am extremely lucky and my parents have agreed to cover all of undergrad and most of vet school for me and I understand that this will take a HUGE burden off of me and I am extremely grateful for that. The thing that I think would be most difficult for me would be seeing helpless animals in distress. I know that sounds kind of cliche but it breaks my heart to see animals in pain and I hope that I can handle that if I do become a vet.

With regards to the life and death decisions and seeing animals in pain, I can provide some insight. I currently work as a vet tech at a large emergency & specialty center (also previously worked as an assistant at a GP), and will be starting vet school in the Fall. The doctors and techs most certainly do stay up at night thinking about mistakes.

One thing that you’ll learn if you stick with it is that you absolutely, 100% cannot help every animal that crosses your path (at least in a way that keeps that animal living). There are tons of reasons why, ranging from something like it having a condition that just can’t be cured, to having owners who don’t want to/can’t afford to help a curable condition. I’ve only been working in veterinary medicine for three years and not even in an emergency setting where you would see that far more often, and I’ve seen tons of animals who I really wanted to help but couldn’t. It’s horrible at first. Over time, though, people usually learn to get past it and accept it as something that can’t be changed. That doesn’t make it easy to deal with, but it makes it easier. I’ve had friends who couldn’t handle the emotional aspect of veterinary medicine and switched majors. And that’s okay. It really isn’t for everyone, and you mainly find out if it’s for you by gaining experience.

I can attest to that as well, especially for emergency medicine. The doctors I currently work with say I will have an advantage, because I know that I won't be able to save all of the patients. Also, I think of euthanasia as a compassionate act. It will relieve the suffering. The cases that are gut wrenching are the cases that need to either be treated or euthanized, but the owners decide to take home.

Don't get me wrong, it's still sad to euthanize a blocked cat (especially when the owner just refuses to follow the discharge instructions and is euthanizing because "this cat is too much work" and doesn't want to even try outpatient care after a decompressive cysto... At that point, just recognize that you are doing the cat a favor.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

I’ve had friends who couldn’t handle the emotional aspect of veterinary medicine and switched majors.

There are plenty of careers within veterinary medicine that are less emotional than others, just saying. I've worried a bit about the emotional aspect of the career. But one thing that is nice to know for me is that there are many paths within vet med, a lot of which don't deal with patients directly, don't deal with patients while they are alive, etc etc.

 

[ajs513]

There are plenty of careers within veterinary medicine that are less emotional than others, just saying. I've worried a bit about the emotional aspect of the career. But one thing that is nice to know for me is that there are many paths within vet med, a lot of which don't deal with patients directly, don't deal with patients while they are alive, etc etc.

This is just me hazarding a guess, but it seems like the people I’ve known who switched majors when they realized clinical vet med was too emotional for them wouldn’t have been happy on a different path. They grew up imagining that they’d be in the exam room helping animals and being the vet they had always seen their personal vets as. When that didn’t seem to be a reality, they didn’t want to continue. Those who realized clinical vet med wasn’t for them and simply chose a different path within veterinary medicine probably were never completely set on that dream I mentioned. That’s just the impression I got from seeing maybe half a dozen of my friends switch majors.

 

[that redhead]

I think, too, that until you’re actually in the various positions and steps throughout the entire process of vet education, you just aren’t really, genuinely going to understand what it’s like. You can’t truly understand what being a vet student is like until you’re a vet student yourself. You can’t truly understand what being a vet is like until you’re a vet yourself. Shadowing is great, but just by its very nature you can only take away so much from it. You’ll see vets perform euthanasia, but you won’t actually feel what they feel as they push the solution. You’ll talk with them about their debtload and the impact on their life that that weight carries, but you’re not the one having to live with it. You’ll watch them deal with difficult clients, but you won’t be the one having to try to resolve those altercations. You won’t know what it is like to have another life in your figurative and literal hands until those hands are your own.

This is so spot-on.

I've never had to deal with any mental health issues and for that I am so thankful. But even someone like myself, with no "pre-existing" struggles found vet school to be mentally draining. I can't imagine how I'd cope if I didn't have a system/plan in place. And even then, those safety nets don't always work like we expect them to.

As for practice, I don't feel like it's depressing overall, but I am one of the lucky ones who can turn off my work brain when I leave 99% of the time. I don't worry about if I picked the right antibiotic or if my surgery patient is dehiscing as we speak or whatever. I have worked with veterinarians who cannot turn off their work brain and they were MISERABLE all of the time because they were stuck in a vicious cycle of second-guessing and how-could-I-have-done-better, etc. Of course there are times we need to reflect on mistakes (and everyone makes a mistake at some point!) But you could do everything perfectly and a case could still go south and you need to be able to realize that not everything is your fault. If you can't find a way to do that...I don't know that clinical medicine will be the right path for you.