Veterinary Surgeons and Suicide: a Structured Review of Possible Influences on Increased Risk

A computerised search of published literature on the suicide risk & influences on suicide among veterinarians, with comparison to the risk & influences in other occupational groups & in the general population, was used to develop a structured review. Veterinary surgeons have a proportional mortality ratio for suicide approximately 4 times that of the general population & around twice that of other healthcare professions. Possible influencing factors include the characteristics of individuals entering the profession, negative effects during undergraduate training, work-related stressors, ready access & knowledge of means, stigma associated with mental illness, professional & social isolation, & alcohol or drug use. Contextual effects such as death attitudes & contagion due to peer suicide may also be possible influences. (159 refs.)