NPR

Veterinarians Are Killing Themselves. An Online Group Is There To Listen And Help

Veterinarians have suicide rates of more than double that of the general population. One group is building an online community to give advice and help out when stress adds up.
Seeing dogs all day has its perks, veterinary neurologist Carrie Jurney says. But it also has downsides, including stress, debt, long hours and facing online harassment.

Dr. Carrie Jurney is on the board of an online organization that works to prevent suicides. It's called Not One More Vet.

This isn't a mental health support group for veterans — it's for veterinarians.

Veterinarians are killing themselves in alarming numbers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found male vets are 2.1 times as likely and female vets 3.5 times as likely to die by suicide compared with the general population. The much higher rate for women is especially concerning as more than 60% of vets are women.

"I had 86 people in my vet school class," Jurney says. "Graduating class of 2005. Three of them are gone. Died by their own hand."

There's a. And the in the United States is about $94,000 a year, which is good, but

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