Public health researchers are trying to better understand how trauma within the profession can lead to suicidal depression, hoping for prevention programs to then target the problem. One concern is that if veterinarians don’t receive help, then the profession might go into crisis. The U.S. is already experiencing a veterinarian shortage, and an increase in psychological distress might make it worse.

There has been a growing awareness of depression and the need for suicide prevention in the veterinary industry in recent years.

Five years ago, I received a call my mom had passed away. I was 30 years old and suddenly motherless. Later that afternoon, I was told she had died by suicide. In that moment, and in many moments thereafter, I was shattered and broken. I could not stop replaying my new reality: my mom had taken her life. I was devastated.