Mental health professional have long been concerned about the impact of high levels of stress on Veterinarians. An article published in Medical News Today published February 25, 2009, examines this issue. The article reports on a study published recently in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology. The researchers studied "...1060 practicing vets in north Germany via a carefully-designed, self-administered questionnaire." The results were striking. "The researchers found that the likelihood of psychosocial stress increased with the number of working hours and was a consequence of time pressure due to a heavy workload, difficulties in balancing professional life with private life, insufficient free time and dealing with difficult customers...many of the vets reported symptoms of demoralization - they were frequently dissatisfied with themselves, rarely optimistic or confident and almost never felt proud.....close examination of their tobacco, alcohol and medical drug habits found that psychosocial stress at work is associated with a poor psychological state, high-risk alcohol consumption and regular drug use while demoralization is associated with tobacco consumption, problem drinking and regular drug intake...Furthermore psychosocial stress leads to demoralization which in turn leads to an increased consumption of psychotropic substances." There are several implications of this study. First, the Veterinarian professional organizations need to take a much more proactive stance with regard to educating Veterinarians about how to manage high levels of professional stress. Second, practicing Veterinarians must engage in day to day management of their stress levels and seek professional help when indicated.
The Bottom Line: The results of this study strongly suggest that highly stressed Veterinarians are at risk of drug and alcohol abuse.
Source: Original Article
Dr. Jeffrey Speller
Dr. Tanya Korkosz
Psychopharmacology Associates of New England
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