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| Bosca meets Scarlett on the beach. Note Phil's awesome photobomb! I didn't notice this til I downloaded the pic. |
Dr Brian McErlean is a
veterinarian, AVA Benevolent Fund Trustee and champion of veterinary wellbeing.
I met him for the first time at the AVA Conference in Perth where he MC’d the
debut performance of the wonderful Australian Veterinary Orchestra.
The profession through
organisations like the AVA is extremely committed to mental health, but ensuring
everyone gets the help and support they need is no easy task. I have known for
some time that veterinarians have a higher suicide rate than the general
population, but it hit home in a major way this year, with the loss of three
vets and one nurse that I have personally known. It’s one thing processing
abstract statistics, quite another when you know someone who takes their life.
The enormity of the
problem hit home like a kick in the guts. The efforts of people like Brian are so
important. He has a simple message that he wants to get out there to encourage help
seeking behaviours and treatment of depression.
“Many veterinarians are
surrounded by lethal substances 24/7. Those that cascade into the severe untreated
depression category (3.9% for veterinarians against 2% in the general
population) are the concern. Should this group have access to lethal
substances they are high risk.
For this reason we have
to encourage veterinarians to get depression treated early before any cascade
to the worst forms. They should also gate keep their colleagues.
Depression is relatively
common but suicidal intent is relatively rare and usually fleeting. When
suicidal intent is real individuals cannot be left alone.
All you have to do is
ask if they have thought of harming themselves and if they have a plan. Those
that answer in the affirmative to both questions are high risk. They must see a
doctor or be taken to the hospital.
We would not leave a
diabetic dog without insulin, why would we leave a
depressed colleague
without neurotransmitters?
We just have to get the
mental health message out there in perpetuity as we can’t take the drugs from
them.
Nurses and pharmacists
also have access to lethal drugs and have a suicide rate twice that of the
general population.
In the USA if you have a
gun in the house it increases the suicide risk by a factor of 3. Veterinarians
have a “gun” in the house!”
For urgent help anyone can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24 hours).AVA members can call the AVA Telephone Counselling Service (24 hours) on 1800 337 068.
Thanks Brian. I honestly had NOT thought about it
like this before. Clearly access to drugs to perform euthanasia is key to our
ability to alleviate profound suffering, and no one wants to jeopardise that.
But we are human beings. Is there a level of risk to ourselves that we have to
take into this equation? I’d love to hear people’s thoughts.
OTHER RESOURCES
This is an article I wrote about burnout and depression in the vet profession.
Here is one about whether performing euthanasia increases the risk of suicide in vets.
And another link to mental health resources here.
Also…if you have not yet entered our incredible
David Attenborough competition, well, you are seriously missing out. There’s
still time! Click here for more details.
