The daily grind can be grueling and leave us feeling drained at the end of the day. Some professions are even more demanding than we can imagine. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we were and still are, facing some of the biggest challenges of our lifetime. It makes me stop and think what healthcare workers directly dealing with coronavirus have endured for over a year now. Imagine... you go to your job working your hardest to save people, but watch them suffer what seems endlessly, only to have them die. Over 600,000 people in America have lost their lives to this virus. I myself, know of five people that did not survive their bout and have grieved at their suffering and the pain their loved ones are still feeling. How does someone go back to work day after day in this environment?
Mental Health America surveyed 1,119 healthcare workers from June-September 2020. Its results show the attempt to listen to the experiences of COVID-19 healthcare workers in order to have resources available to support their mental health needs. The results of the survey can be found at https://mhanational.org/mental-health-healthcare-workers-covid-19
Some results of the survey found healthcare workers don't only deal with the emotional drain but many others issues as well. They are stretched too thin, they are afraid of exposing their families and loved ones to the virus, they are physically exhausted, they are in need of emotional support and they need help taking care of their children.
In asking how healthcare workers were regularly feeling - gratitude, hope and pride ranked last! Their top three feelings were stress, anxiety and frustration. These types of feelings cannot be sustained for long periods of time without diverse and often negative outcomes. Taking care of both physical and psychological needs must be a priority to help someone get through a long term crisis and move forward at their best.
Some strategies for dealing with these issues are:
- Meditation
- Exercise
- Journaling
- Managing Expectations
- Prioritizing Self Care
- Support Groups
- Therapy
- and many others
If you are feeling a need for support please go to
https://mhanational.org/covid19/frontline-workers
for a list of ways to cope and help feel better. It has resources for many different issues and even includes a link for ways you could help a healthcare worker you may know.
If you're unsure if you need help, this website mhascreening.org has great tests to help assess and provide tools to help!
Please take care of yourself. So many are thankful for all you do to take care of others.
