Frontliners’ Mental Health Pushed Beyond Limits by COVID-19

(Photo : Reuters)
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Madrid

World leaders have likened the COVID-19 pandemic into a 'war'. Indeed, it is one of the most grueling fights ever in history because we are fighting an invisible enemy. The pandemic is a war fought neither by tanks nor fighter jets but it is a war that can be won in the battlefield of intensive care ward of hospitals, fought by healthcare workers on the front lines.

Facing challenges along the way such as medical supply shortages, endless shifts, and the risk of contracting with the life-threatening illness for themselves and their families, these frontline workers are under an immense mental strain.

Mentally Exhausted

COVID-19 is pushing the mental health of doctors, nurses, and other frontline workers beyond their limits. These individuals who are exposed every day to coronavirus are more at risk of developing unfavorable mental health issues, according to new research.

The National Health Commission of China reported more than 3,000 healthcare workers infected from the disease as of early March, and at least 22 had died by the end of February. Similarly, Italy has also reported a 20% casualties to their responding health workers and some of them have already died.

Medical workers and frontline workers as well have to face extreme physical and mental exhaustion, tormenting triage decisions that mostly require them to choose which one is to live like sacrificing those with lower chances of surviving to save those people with a higher possibility of getting cured. On top of that, they also face the pain of losing patients and colleagues and the hovering stress of becoming infected.

These conditions are bound to cause symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and distress to doctors and nurses, and other frontline workers. It was confirmed by a recent study by Jianbo Lai, MSc from the Department of Psychiatry at Zheijiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China.

With COVID-19 taking the toll not only to patients but also to medical providers alike, a team of China-based investigators headed by Lai used data from more than 1,200 healthcare workers to evaluate the extent of mental health consequences and related factors among those treating patients that were exposed to coronavirus in China.

The results of their study have shown that women, nurses, healthcare workers and those in Wuhan had a greater risk of worsening mental health conditions than average. The team's findings suggested that such persons may need psychological support and interventions. Their study was recently published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

During the 2003 SARS, similar adverse psychological reactions were also recorded, with studies result that healthcare providers had very high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms which might have long-term psychological implications to the person.

What we can do?

It is obvious that frontline healthcare workers and alike deserve and require special attention in times like this; it is essential to protect them. Governments should provide all the medical supplies that they need and will be needing, and also enable clear protocols that protect not only their physical health but their mental health as well.

It is important that we take care of the healthcare workers so that in turn, they can also properly care for us and those infected when it comes to the time that we ask help from them.