Tips for Vets Dealing With Stress
VPG
The 2023 Workplace Health Report found that 76% of employees report moderate-to-high or high levels of stress. The veterinary profession is no different, as the risk of poor mental health and suicide is higher than the population at large.[1]
We’ve put together some tips that will help you to reduce stress, along with some helpful resources that can provide help and further information.
Talking about it
Talking openly and honestly about stress can help to strengthen your relationships and help to get you the support that you need. In some instances, it can also help people who are going through the same issues feel less alone.
If you’d feel more comfortable speaking anonymously, the Vetlife helpline is available 24 hours, 365 days a year and all calls are completely confidential.
Exercise
Being active can boost your feel-good endorphins and can become a distractor from daily worries. Regular exercise can help to increase an individual’s self-confidence, improve your mood and help you to relax.
Sleep
Eve Sleep discovered that 79% of us struggle to switch off at bedtime and 60% of us wake up in the night with thoughts of work or other worries.
To help get a good night’s sleep experts recommend turning off screens early, being mindful before bed by meditating or deep breathing, taking a hot bath or shower before and reducing caffeine intake.
Useful Resources
The Mind Matters Initiative, which aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of those in the veterinary team, have created a downloadable guide on enhancing wellbeing and managing stress in the veterinary workplace. The guide is available to view and download here.
Vetlife also produces independent, confidential and free help to anyone in the veterinary community including veterinary nurses, students, and non-clinical staff.
How we can help
Here at the VPG we offer highly personalised diagnostics for every submission and free consultation from our expert veterinary pathologists, to assist you in providing the best care for your patients possible.
You can also save time when requesting testing and ordering submissions by using PATHPORT our easy to use online portal.
For more information on our services, please contact your local laboratory.