Self-Dehumanization Is Related to Worse Mental Health in Veterinarians - Abstract, Methods, Results, Conclusions

Sep 30, 2026

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Veterinarians often report poor mental health, including elevated depression and anxiety, yet self-dehumanization—feeling less than human—has remained largely unexplored. In an online survey of 201 veterinarians, approximately 10% reported self-dehumanization. Most participants showed clinically significant depression and anxiety symptoms, with moderate burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Burnout and secondary traumatic stress predicted anxiety, while burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and self-dehumanization predicted depression; mediation analyses supported these relationships.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background/Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Veterinarian Mental Health

Risk Factors for Poor Mental Health

Article Self-Dehumanization Is Related to Worse Mental Health in Veterinarians Annalyse Ellis 1,*, Roxanne D. Hawkins 2, Sarah C. E. Stanton 1 and Steve Loughnan 1 Academic Editors: Beatrice Thielmann and Irina Böckelmann Received: 25 November 2025 Revised: 22 December 2025 Accepted: 24 December 2025 Published: 31 December 2025 Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. 1 Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AD, UK 2 Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK * Correspondence: [a.ellis-7@sms.ed.ac.uk](a.ellis-7@sms.ed.ac.uk) Abstract Background/Objectives: Veterinarians often experience poor mental health, including higher than typical rates of depression and anxiety. Self-dehumanization, which refers to the feeling of being less than human, may reflect an important yet neglected factor in poor veterinarian mental health. Methods: 201 veterinarians completed an online survey consisting of demographic questions, questions regarding their practice settings, and measures of self-dehumanization, depression, anxiety, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Results: About 10% of veterinarians reported self-dehumanization. Most veterinarians had clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as moderate levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Burnout and secondary traumatic stress positively predicted anxiety, while burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and self-dehumanization positively predicted depression. Cross-sectional mediation analyses indicated that burnout and secondary traumatic stress both significantly mediated the links between self-dehumanization and anxiety, and self-dehumanization and depression. Conclusions: This study provides new insight into the role of self-dehumanization in the poor mental health of veterinarians, which has implications for the development of preventative measures. Keywords: veterinary; self-dehumanization; depression; anxiety; burnout; secondary traumatic stress 1. Introduction Veterinarians experience elevated rates of mental health concerns compared to the general population, including greater frequencies of depression, anxiety, psychological distress, and suicidality [1–5] . Potential contributing factors to poor mental health within the veterinary profession are well-researched [5], with a large body of work focusing on risk factors such as burnout and secondary traumatic stress. However, there are many other potential variables associated with veterinarian mental health that have not yet been explored. One such variable is self-dehumanization, which refers to the feeling of being less than human [6], and stems from an individual’s perception that they or the group to which they belong are lacking the essential qualities related to being human [7] . Self-dehumanization is experienced by other healthcare providers including nurses and doctors, and is linked to worse mental well-being outcomes such as negative emotions, low self-esteem, and increased anxiety [7–10] . However, self-dehumanization has not yet been studied in veterinarians to date despite similar probable risk factors (e.g., compassion fatigue) and coping mechanisms to deal with emotionally demanding roles, across healthcare professions [11] . The present work is the first to examine self-dehumanization amongst veterinarians. It aims to understand the associations between self-dehumanization, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and the clinical mental health variables of anxiety and depression. Further, it aims to explore whether the relationships between self-dehumanization and clinical mental health variables are mediated by burnout an

FAQs

What is self-dehumanization and why might it matter for veterinarians?

Self-dehumanization refers to feeling less than human. The study treats it as a potentially neglected factor related to worse mental well-being in veterinarians.

How was the study conducted?

A total of 201 veterinarians completed an online survey assessing self-dehumanization, demographic and practice setting information, and measures of depression, anxiety, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress.

What did the results show about mental health and self-dehumanization?

About 10% reported self-dehumanization, while most veterinarians showed clinically significant depression and anxiety symptoms plus moderate burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Burnout and secondary traumatic stress predicted anxiety, and burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and self-dehumanization predicted depression.

Sep 30, 2026

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