A graduate of the Columbia University School of Social Work, Talya E. Gershon owns and operates Coastal Virginia Consulting, LLC, which provides life coaching and behavioral health consulting services. Over the course of her career, Talya E. Gershon has presented seminars addressing topics such as psychological health maintenance for veterinarians.
Individuals in the veterinary profession may be at greater risk for suicide compared to other Americans, based on findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which were published in the January 2019 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Association. Following a review of death records from 1979 through 2015, the study found that female veterinarians were especially at risk, committing suicide at a rate 3.5 times higher than the general population. Male veterinarians were less likely to commit suicide, but their rate will still 2.1 times higher than average. Theories as to why this is so have been proposed, including the isolation and fatigue associated with working in a small veterinary practice, as well as the fact that veterinarians must regularly cope with animal patients' death and pet owners in mourning.
Fortunately, the industry has taken a proactive approach to this trend, establishing suicide prevention services at veterinary schools around the country. Similar practices have been adopted by professional associations and animal hospitals, while some hospitals closely track their staff's hours and work weeks in order to prevent burnout.