Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A suicide crisis among veterinarians

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 463 posts

Re: A suicide crisis among veterinarians

#201

Post by Etheryte »

maxwell wrote: post #134
runlaszlorun wrote: post #110

This article hit me pretty hard. But I really wish we could find a better term than 'mental health crisis'. I think it's a polite form of victim blaming. At what point are we just gonna admit that we've built a crap world and we oughta have an honest conversation about fixing it?

Once the Silent Generation and Boomers no longer hold most of the power.

This is a nice idea, except it's also completely false. Every generation before this one has thought the same and for most of history they haven't exactly been right.

Re: A suicide crisis among veterinarians

#202

Post by Jka9rhnDJos »

Fomite wrote: post #4

I work in a veterinary school, and it's remarkable to see how worn down veterinarians are compared to my colleagues in "people medicine" (and my comparison group are infectious disease folks - they're not exactly a cheerful group). To be honest, at this point, between how hard it is to get into vet school, the debt load, and how you're signing up for crushing compassion fatigue your whole life, and a career of hoping…

My daughter wants more than anything to be a vet. Has talked about it for years. Reading more and more anecdotes and research about what it’s like being a veterinarian, I’m scared to continue encouraging her. We have a particularly medically-needy dog, and have spent $10k on procedures and vet visits over the past few years, and she’s really comfortable and familiar with being at the vet office.

In my position, would you encourage your child to chase their dream? Or would you be comfortable telling them every few weeks until they gave up that you don’t think they should be a vet? I’m asking in earnest because I’m torn with my desire to be encouraging and positive and tell her to chase a dream, with my desire not to set her up for misery or potentially suicide.

Re: A suicide crisis among veterinarians

#203

Post by jart »

birksherty wrote: post #196
I_Am_Nous wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember reading about how "sticking your head in an oven" was a legitimate suicide method when using coal gas ovens. When people switched to natural gas/electric, the suicide rate dropped drastically: >The switch from coal gas to natural gas also had one unexpected effect. During the ‘50s and ‘60s, about half of the suicides in Britain were by coal gas. By the ‘70s, when the transition to natural gas was complete,…

Just living without dying is not a good life. If anyone wants to stop suicide they should prevent the root cause that leads to it, not just stop giving a less painful way to do so. It's inhuman and many forced to die horribly because of this. It's always the privileged who decides to make suicide harder. They think life is always going to be good at after waiting. For many it's not true. Privileged people think just…

https://youtu.be/tetwGGL997s?t=149

Re: A suicide crisis among veterinarians

#204

Post by mdouglass »

zargon wrote: post #129
pandemicsyn wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's a good pet insurance carrier/plan, that's not just a straight up scam that just cover's the yearly stuff and some select things? Legit asking because with two super active GSD's I'd sign up in a heart beat if I found one.

In the US, Canada, and Australia, it's Trupanion. It doesn't cover routine wellness costs (exams, shots, teeth cleanings). But it covers virtually everything else at 90% with a $250 deductible. No annual limits or lifetime limits. For my cats it costs $30 per month (each).

That's way better than anything I've seen. I get a 79.50$/mo quote with a $1000 deductible from Trupanion for my 2yr old dog. Which is why we've never picked it up.

The $250 deductible version is a crazy $184.55/mo.

Re: A suicide crisis among veterinarians

#205

Post by mfashby »

rcarr wrote: post #17

I'm not really an animal person and I briefly dated a vet once and it always used to crack me up how when she was telling a story she would refer to the animals as patients. Like I get it, animals are sentient, have emotions, are intelligent, have ways of communicating etc. But there is still something inherently funny about this to me, like a sketch show where you're zoomed in on what you assume are two doctors in w…

It always makes me chuckle a little bit too, mostly when I see entries for 'species' in the FHIR specification (FHIR is a health care data specification)

https://www.hl7.org/fhir/patient.html

Re: A suicide crisis among veterinarians

#206

Post by NoMoreNicksLeft »

fishyjoe wrote: post #161
NoMoreNicksLeft wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sorry you have not yet or are not able to experience the unconditional love of a loyal and caring I'm an adult. I'm supposed to give that sort of love, not receive it. That's one of the reasons I have children. Receiving it is for children. > You think that person is a low life? You think that person is a caveman who should just die alone? I think they're someone who can't afford $150/month in pet food. > I hop…

If you truly believe you don't deserve love because you're an adult, that's just really sad. Receiving love is for everyone.

When have either of us lived in a universe where "deserve" has anything to do with reality?

Is that the source of everyone's dysfunction, wandering around whining about "deserving love"? How could I ever give love if I were so desperate to receive it? My life's far from sad. But all the sad people out there seem to agree with you with their whining about deserving love. Have you ever explored that connection?

Re: A suicide crisis among veterinarians

#207

Post by Exuma »

heyoni wrote: post #159
oooyay wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was lucky enough to own a house next to the vet clinic that ended up being my first dogs final veterinarian. Her sickness was very gradual; a boil grew on her neck and started aspirating blood, she became anemic, and somewhat lethargic. I supplemented her diet as the vet walked me through everything I could possibly do and was willing to afford. She gave me her number to text when weird things happened with the cav…

I think one of the worst things about society right now is we don’t share the burden amongst ourselves. The dirty work so to speak is delegated to specialists and our hands stay completely clean. I’m not saying pet owners should euthanize their animals but staying there in the room while the vet did their work probably helped, and the article mentions that owners leaving is part of the problem.

One of my favorite cats has a bad tumor and a 3 month expected life span. I found out a few days ago.

I’m shattered and the thought of having to be in the room or not is just super depressing.

I’ve never lost a pet before or even someone very close to me.

I’m scared for how bad it’s going to hurt

Part of me (most of me) wants to be there to feel the pain in the deepest way and not bitch out. To be there for the last breath

Oh man I feel so bad

Re: A suicide crisis among veterinarians

#208

Post by nickvec »

brink wrote: post #170
runlaszlorun wrote: post #110

This article hit me pretty hard. But I really wish we could find a better term than 'mental health crisis'. I think it's a polite form of victim blaming. At what point are we just gonna admit that we've built a crap world and we oughta have an honest conversation about fixing it?

> At what point are we just gonna admit that we've built a crap world and we oughta have an honest conversation about fixing it? When we start admitting the problem is fundamental to human nature, meaning we start pointing the finger at ourselves instead of only at other people. Until then, this cycle will only continue.

Not sure if you're implying that having a "crap world" is inherent to human nature, but I disagree. We live in a society that forces the majority of people to labor tirelessly for low wages. In our society, money is power, and one can't shoulder the blame for a dysfunctional society that they (for all intents and purposes) don't have a say in.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the mental health crisis is a societal problem, not a personal one. With roots in low wages, high hours, world instability, a loss of community/spirituality, and other factors that simply are not controllable by the average Joe.

Re: A suicide crisis among veterinarians

#209

Post by latchkey »

zargon wrote: post #194
latchkey wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't get insurance for an end of life cat. The comparison doesn't work against a young healthy pet. If you never have to use it, you've just wasted a bunch of money. Don't think you can outsmart rooms full of people who are doing the math against much larger volumes of input data.

My comparison is to a young healthy pet who reaches end of life, as pets tend to do. I did the math, including interest on self-insurance savings and deductibles and co-pays. In my circumstance, insurance would have saved me thousands of dollars. Of course, I might not have needed it. Or it might have saved me $20,000. It's risk management. Pay a medium amount to hedge against the possibly having to pay an exorbitant…

No $25/mo insurance is going to pay out $20k, they all have maximum caps.

That's also 800 months of payments and your cat isn't going to live to 66 years old.

Re: A suicide crisis among veterinarians

#210

Post by bengale »

heyoni wrote: post #159
oooyay wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was lucky enough to own a house next to the vet clinic that ended up being my first dogs final veterinarian. Her sickness was very gradual; a boil grew on her neck and started aspirating blood, she became anemic, and somewhat lethargic. I supplemented her diet as the vet walked me through everything I could possibly do and was willing to afford. She gave me her number to text when weird things happened with the cav…

I think one of the worst things about society right now is we don’t share the burden amongst ourselves. The dirty work so to speak is delegated to specialists and our hands stay completely clean. I’m not saying pet owners should euthanize their animals but staying there in the room while the vet did their work probably helped, and the article mentions that owners leaving is part of the problem.

I wonder if that's true. You're putting the animal out of its misery in many cases, but for a lot of people in the room you're a key part of one of the worst moments for them. I think of the last one I went though that was unexpected, how many people have to stand in a room and watch two grown adults lay on the floor and truly sob, to see their hearts break. I can't imagine the empathy for the love people feel for animals makes it any easier.
Post reply on HN