By Ain Nafisya
The chaos in medical field during the Covid-19 pandemic could possibly threaten the mental health of our frontline workers. They are more prone to be afflicted by insomnia, anxiety, depression, etc. The physical exhaustion that they experience could potentially harm them by of taking a toll on their emotions and mental wellbeing.
According to a study published by journal JAMA Network Open, it shows how a large
number of healthcare workers exposed to Covid-19 in China consisting of 1257 individuals are recorded to be psychologically distressed. It includes the findings involving 764 nurses, 493 physicians, 522 frontline health care workers and 764 worked in hospitals in Wuhan –which are all reported to be experiencing mental health problems. Besides having to deal with all the workload and information overload, they also face the stigma from the public as being ‘contaminated’. The stigmatisation does not only affect the frontline workers but their families as well.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Managing your mental health and
psychosocial wellbeing during this time is as important as managing your physical health.” The frontline workers are advised to practice healthy coping skills and strategies in order to ensure that their sanity is still intact. The higher workload and the extended shifts are not unfamiliar to frontline workers anymore. In fact, the nature of what they have to face at work is what is to be called unfamiliar.
First of all, these workers are at a greater stake of experiencing a sense of helplessness.
This is due to their lack of access to beds or any equipment which can provide the best
healthcare for their patients. To lose a significant number of patients due to shortage of
resources can really take a toll on the workers as they feel responsible and how things could have been better if there were enough resources.
They also experience lack of social support as a result of policies around Covid-19. Social
support in the middle of the pandemic are highly unavailable as everyone needs to abide by the regulations. In spite of all the stress, the frontline workers need to sacrifice almost every single piece of themselves to aid in breaking the chain. The likelihood for them to suffer from post-traumatic stress symptoms are also high along with other ordeals that they have to face like the added stress from home and having to provide and obtain daily essentials all at once.
In order to mitigate the adverse psychological effects, we must first learn to address the
issues itself by providing practical support. According to data in response to Middle East
respiratory syndrome (MERs), it is shown how a specific means of support can contribute to a protective role in mental health.
Some of the ways to support includes implementing rigid control over the general public to avoid spread of infection. Moreover, to offer more medical staff and provide medical
guidance to the frontline workers can contribute a lot in reducing their work intensity. Finally, this outbreak has taught us a lot about compassion and to be more understanding that frontline workers are humans as well. Everyone should learn to help each other in alleviating the pain and the burden of others.
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