These statistics merely highlight a mental health issue that was present in the veterinary profession long before 2020, but which worsened during the pandemic. As a result, vets everywhere need greater support for their mental health. To effectively address stress for vets, it's first important to recognise the major contributing factors, including:

• Compassion fatigue, ethical conflict, moral distress, and a lack of training on how to deal with these issues
• Poor work-life balance, long hours and social isolation
• High student debt levels
• Bullying online and at the practice
• Lack of communication and mindfulness training
• Increased tendencies towards maladaptive perfectionism, achievement orientation and imposter syndrome
• Regular exposure to death
• Increased demand for services since 2020

So what can you do if you're a vet currently experiencing a high level of stress? Here are three stress management tips that can help.

1. Devote Time to Self-Care

If you're like most veterinary professionals, you are a big-hearted, chronic over-giver. As a result, you might be thinking one of four things when it comes to devoting time to self-care:

• That sounds selfish.
• I don't have time.
• I don't have the money.
• I can't possibly take care of myself when everything and everybody else needs my attention.

I used to think that way too. But after I crashed and burned in my late 30s, I realised that self-care is not selfish, but a necessary survival skill. Furthermore, the excuses we use not to practice adequate self-care are disempowering lies that most people have been conditioned to believe. You can hear it every time you ask vets how they are doing. Most say, 'Oh, I'm fine – busy, tired, but fine.' In fact, in veterinary culture, we signal our virtue by telling people how busy and tired we are.

Self-care is all about taking back power by caring for your most important asset: you. That is why self-care is the key element when it comes to stress management and prioritising well-being in the workplace.

2. Embrace Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a basic human ability to be completely present, aware of where you are and what you're doing, and not feel overwhelmed or highly reactive. When you're mindful, you are more grounded in the now and not influenced either by regret for past actions or anxiety about future ones.

There are many benefits to mindfulness, including:

• Increased resilience
• Reduced stress
• Better management of chronic pain
• Increased insight, awareness and cognitive flexibility
• Greater compassion and empathy

Mindfulness also helps you to become aware of potentially damaging thoughts that cycle over and over again in your mind, all of which make you stressed and unhappy.

When I started practising mindfulness, I realised my worries played in a continuous loop in my mind, influencing my beliefs about the world and creating a negative narrative that ran my life. My thoughts sounded something like this: 'There's not enough money; I have to do this all myself; I can't trust others; the world isn't safe; I am a victim of others; I am not free.'

Embracing mindfulness is a way to counteract this cycle. You just need to learn how to access it. Some ways to cultivate mindfulness include:

• Breathwork, even a few minutes per day.
• Noting your thoughts and feelings as they pass by but not engaging with them
• Meditation, whether guided, unguided, transcendental, chanting, walking, or as part of an exercise routine.

3. Adopt the Four Rs

Developed by nurses, the four Rs strategy has been used extensively in human medicine to reduce stress in situations that can cause moral distress. The next time you are confronted with a stressful situation, try applying the four Rs:

1. Recognise. Be aware of the complexities related to the patient, the client and the veterinary care team, including what each party wants to happen and emotions that may affect their perspectives. Recognise the situation for what it is.
2. Release. Consider what you can change and what you can't. Let go of the need to control the outcome, and instead, control the only thing you really can – yourself.
3. Reconsider. Once you've let go, it's time to build a new mindset about the situation. You may need to reframe an issue to view it in a new way.
4. Restart. You may find you're asking new questions or have new ideas about how the situation can be moved forward in a positive way. Ask yourself:

• • How important is it to you to change the situation?
  • How important would a change be to your patients, clients and the practice?
  • How confident are you in your ability to cause change?
  • How determined are you to make this change?

Used daily, these practices will reduce stress and burnout, help you enjoy your job and your life again, increase productivity, and ultimately better serve the pets and people you love so much.