With the outbreak of COVID-19 and a study done on the psychological health of health care workers, an increase of 34.9% of depressive symptoms, 39.5% of anxiety symptoms and 32.9% of stress-related symptoms were reported.
Ensuring psychological wellbeing of the health care in the current day scenario has become a necessity, as it will be beneficial for the larger good of the society.
Healthcare workers experience a variety of psychological and physical symptoms when experiencing a concept widely known as “physicians’ fatigue”. Physicians fatigue could be understood as the feeling of burn-out or feeling drained of energy to involve oneself in personal, social or even professional interactive activities one used to enjoy taking part. Continuation of this fatigued feeling leads to deterioration in one’s mental health. The following are some symptoms and the ill effect they could cause:
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Change in circadian rhythm and sleep cycle: Circadian rhythm or the body’s internal clock is disrupted in short term impacts the person’s productivity and understanding of general concepts, increased in work-related hazards. Mood disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenic symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, thought disorders have proven to increase with change in the body’s clock cycle.
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Negative thought pattern/ intrusive thought pattern: As a health care worker the work environment is taken to be anyway more stressful and of having more risks of life and death in general. The possibilities of the things which could go wrong are way more than what could go right. This leads to feeling hopeless and helpful.
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Physical symptoms of anxiety and depression (such as increased heart rate, change in eating habits, headaches etc.)
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Increase in mood swings
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Getting easily irritated/frustrated or having anger outbursts
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Loss of self-esteem and self-worth
To overcome the stress and anxiety one could resort to basic techniques of Cognitive- Behavioural therapy and acceptance-based therapy options. Mindfulness is another widely accepted treatment modality to better manage stress, emotions and feeling.
The possibility of self-diagnosis and self-treatment is way higher in this field than in any other profession, this impacts in increasing the severity of current mental health condition. If you or anyone you know is suffering or seem to be struggling to regulate themselves emotionally, it is best to act as a pillar of support to them and suggest them to seek help from a certified mental health professional.
Importance of Professional Counseling: A friend or family member may listen to you, but they aren’t professionally, technically qualified or experienced to offer you professional advice. If you wish you can contact us at MindTribe to receive help from our team of expert psychologists.
About MindTribe.in.
MindTribe Founder Dr. Prerna Kohli, India’s eminent psychologist, established the company to leverage the strength of the online to make counseling affordable and accessible to everyone. MindTribe provides counseling, workshops, support groups, forums, and eLearning.
About the Author.
Parthvi Munjal is a psychologist at MindTribe.in. You can learn more about her by clicking here
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of MindTribe.in, the Founders, or management team.
Acknowledgement: All images used are open source and from Unsplash.