The Covid-19 Pandemic Is Causing More Severe Mental Health IssuesAnd More Burnout Among Psychologists And Psychiatrists – Forbes

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Before beginning her next shift in the emergency room at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., psychiatrist Dr. Danielle Hairston attempts to soothe her own anxiety with a few deep breaths.

These days, you really dont know what youre going to encounter when you go to work each day, says Hairston.

Along with working overtime and serving a surge of patients battling severe distress, Hairston fears for her own health and the health of her senior mother, who lives with her.

The stress has definitely led to a number of sleepless nights, recounts Hairston. It can be very overwhelming.

Along with the enduring toll Covid-19 has taken on healthcare workers, as global cases creep to 18.8 million and countries are experiencing second waves, mental healthcare workers have also been confronting unprecedented challenges.

Everyone is kind of burned out, admits Dr. Manuel Pacheco, the chief emergency service psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center. The increased volume of patients, the financial strain of the hospitals and not knowing what is going to happen as the pandemic continues can leave you feeling like youre treading water.

Just as physical healthcare workers are working overtime to care for a spike in patients and mitigate fatalities due to the still-perplexing coronavirus, so, too, are mental healthcare workers.

In May, the nonprofit Well Being Trust, in conjunction with the D.C.-based Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care, published research that suggests conditions stemming directly from Covid-19including widespread unemployment, social isolation, dread and a murky futurecould lead to an estimated additional 75,000 deaths on top of those caused by physical illness. Fatalities from drug overdoses, alcohol abuse andsuicide (otherwise known as deaths of despair) is what those on the front lines of mental health are working to combat.

Pacheco, who has worked at Tufts for nearly a decade and also serves as a member of the American Psychiatric Association Assembly Executive Committee, explains that his department has experienced up to 20% more patients than what was typical prior to the pandemic.

Dr. Hairston, who also serves as the president of the American Psychiatric Association of Black Psychiatrists, echoes this experience; shes noted an uptick in patients who are suffering from more severe mental health issues.

Theres certainly been a surge of patients in crisis, Hairston explains. Particularly working with those from underserved communities, theres added distress about housing, the fear of getting evicted and unstable unemployment stemming from the virus. All of the uncertainty definitely makes a lot of these cases more challenging. It can be difficult to reassure patients.

Dr. Shabana Khan, the Director of Child and Adolescent Telepsychiatry at NYU Langone, reiterates this challenge of not being able to give patients definitive affirmation of when things might improve. Ive seen a number of patients experience increased anxiety and stress levels and worsened moods due to the pandemic and social isolation, says Dr. Khan. Some were previously functioning pretty well, but because of this crisis, theyve had to reengage in treatment or increase the amount of time they come to see me.

Khan explains that the heightened workload for mental healthcare workers not only comes from an increased number and severity of cases, but also due to the reality of taking care of patients in a socially distanced world.

Telehealth in the era of Covid-19 has become a welcome and necessary tool for psychologists and psychiatrists to continue to see patients, but it also lends itself to an already intensified workload.

Show rates for appointments are a lot higher because telehealth visits decrease typical barriers such as travel time, Khan explains. This aside from anything else has meant clinicians are seeing more patients in many practices. This also comes with significant videoconferencing fatigue that can feel isolating for us as well.

Outlining a darker symptom of social-distancing measures, Dr. Pacheco explains that in order to temper the spread of Covid-19, in-patient psychiatric units had to limit the number of patients allowed to be admitted so that everyone could be isolated in their own room. This has led to longer wait times for patients within the Emergency Department at hospitals to move to treatment centers to get the care they need.

Dr. Hairston emphasizes how overwhelmed emergency services have been with the closing of core agencies, which provide essential services to people who have serious mental illnesses, severe emotional disturbances or dependence on alcohol or drugs. Anyone with significant mental illnesses usually has access to group services, a social worker and case managers who are able to go check on them. But because a lot of them arent open, many people arent getting the right care. Because of this well admit people to the hospital just for some stability, which we wouldnt normally do.

The cancellation of appointments and loss of access to clinicians or caseworkers because of social-distancing measures, particularly for those from underrepresented groups who dont have access to phones that could be used for telehealth, has led to an increased number of suicide attempts, according to Dr. Pacheco.

It can be pretty demoralizing, he says.

Ive increased my hours with my own therapist through this, says Dr. Hairston. Ive experienced a jump in my own anxiety and insomnia. Medicine, however, isnt a field where we discuss our own mental health treatment. Its not normal to admit to seeking help. Theres an expectation of being a hero out on the front line, but no one wants to hear that you have mental health struggles or experience anxiety or depression or are feeling traumatized by whats happening.

Dr. Hairston hopes to see this status quo change and destigmatize mental health conversations among physicians. Working longer shifts, watching more patients suffer, and fearing for their own and their families physical health are just a few anxieties that can weigh heavily on a healthcare worker at this time, she says.

Its important now more than ever that those on the front lines are cared for mentally so that they can take care of others.

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, please call theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat 800-273-TALK (8255) or text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741.

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The Covid-19 Pandemic Is Causing More Severe Mental Health IssuesAnd More Burnout Among Psychologists And Psychiatrists - Forbes