How you can help #NOMV: Veterinary community and animal lovers raise awareness after three vet med professionals die by suicide
Please contact The Canada Suicide Prevention Service 24/7 by phone at 1-833-456-4566 or text them at 45645, available from 4:00 PM - 12:00 AM, EST for support. You are never alone. |
If you follow animal or veterinary groups on social media or are friends with someone working in veterinary medicine, you may have seen profile pictures change to support #NOMV. This stands for Not One More Vet, and it's trending for the worst reason. In the past two weeks, three veterinarians (Josh Smith) and one veterinary technician died by suicide. I extend my most sincere sympathies to their family, friends, and colleagues. Sadly, it's a story we in the veterinary profession have heard before. According to the most recent data available in the United States, depending on gender, veterinarians are 1.6 to 2.4 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population and veterinary technicians are 2.3 to 5 times more likely. The veterinary profession has the highest rate of deaths by suicide of any profession.