In addition to PTSD, the potentially traumatic events that healthcare workers will likely experience during the COVID-19 pandemic can also lead to depression and anxiety, as well as other significant mental health concerns, including compassion fatigue, moral injury, traumatic grief, and burnout.
- Compassion fatigue occurs when you are in an extreme state of tension and preoccupation with the emotional or physical pain of those you are trying to help.
- Moral injury refers to psychological distress resulting from actions taken or not taken that violate a person’s moral or ethical code. Moral injuries have primarily been described in military personnel and first responders but have also been documented in medical staff. Experiences that can cause moral injury, such as feeling let down by having to work with insufficient resources, having to choose which patients are allocated life-saving resources, or following clinical procedures that go against ethical guidelines are also associated with mental health problems, including PTSD.
- Traumatic grief is a type of grief that overwhelms and does not decrease with time. It is more likely when a loss is sudden or traumatic, as may be the case with COVID-19 related deaths, or when the grieving person lacks needed coping skills or social support.
- Burnout occurs when you feel emotionally, psychologically, or physically exhausted; there may be increasing cynicism and detachment; as well as feeling ineffective.
The prolonged and recurring nature of COVID-19-related trauma may increase risk of subsequent mental health problems. Even the most highly experienced and resilient healthcare workers may become overwhelmed by the fear, isolation, grief, and loss of life to come. Although not all healthcare workers will develop mental health problems, no one is invulnerable or immune, and some healthcare staff will struggle, possibly for an extended time. Our frontline staff need to be supported now. The goal of the recommendations below is to promote mental health and resilience and reduce the risk of psychological health conditions.
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Helping Health Care Workers Cope with COVID-19-Related Trauma
The COVID-19 pandemic will put many healthcare workers around the world in an unprecedented situation. How can healthcare workers cope during this time? Here are a few suggestions.
Thanks to Scientific Advisory Committee members Carmen McLean and Katy Kamkar for creating this resource.
Healthcare staff will likely be exposed to many potentially traumatic events and events leading to significant distress and moral suffering. As frontline workers, they are highly exposed to the virus itself. The risk of getting sick and needing to be quarantined or hospitalized, or even dying are ever-present. Many healthcare workers have already lost numerous patients and even colleagues to COVID-19. The dramatic increase in cases has overwhelmed healthcare systems and hospitals are scrambling to secure the resources to meet the need.
As a result, staff may be forced to make impossible triage decisions about how to allocate limited resources to the patients they are caring for. All of these potentially traumatic experiences are occurring in the context of under extreme pressures, including fear of spreading the virus to loved ones, possible separation from family, mental and physical exhaustion, and limited access to personal protective equipment and needed medical supplies.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Being vulnerable to contracting a life-threatening illness (or spreading it to loved ones) and witnessing suffering and death are all potentially traumatic events that increase the risk for psychological disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
PTSD is characterized by four types of symptoms:
Click here for more info on PTSD.
Other Mental Health Concerns
In addition to PTSD, the potentially traumatic events that healthcare workers will likely experience during the COVID-19 pandemic can also lead to depression and anxiety, as well as other significant mental health concerns, including compassion fatigue, moral injury, traumatic grief, and burnout.
The prolonged and recurring nature of COVID-19-related trauma may increase risk of subsequent mental health problems. Even the most highly experienced and resilient healthcare workers may become overwhelmed by the fear, isolation, grief, and loss of life to come. Although not all healthcare workers will develop mental health problems, no one is invulnerable or immune, and some healthcare staff will struggle, possibly for an extended time. Our frontline staff need to be supported now. The goal of the recommendations below is to promote mental health and resilience and reduce the risk of psychological health conditions.
Coping Strategies for Health Care Workers:
Recommendations for Health Care Leaders: