By: Jessica Taylor, LPC
Here’s Why More Doctors and Nurses are Experiencing Symptoms of PTSD During COVID
COVID-19 Is Taking a Toll on All of Us
Almost all of us have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in significant ways. Countless people have lost their jobs and are currently worrying about how to pay their bills and feed their family. Others have struggled with the disease themselves and continue to experience residual symptoms. Far too many of us have watched friends and family succumb to the disease.
Then there are the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers who have experienced these impacts in their personal lives while also having to confront the disease every day while they are at work. Studies have shown that in general, the rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in healthcare providers range between 10 and 20%. In addition, this number gets larger in healthcare providers working in ICU environments, with the rate going up to 30%. These numbers are based on the experience of healthcare providers, such as doctors and nurses, during times where there was no pandemic. We are still very much in the thick of treating COVID-19, so only time and more research will show us the psychological impacts that this devastating pandemic has had on our healthcare workers.
How Trauma is Defined
To experience symptoms of PTSD, one much first be exposed to a traumatic event. We often only think of trauma in terms of an experience where we feel our life, or someone else’s life is in danger (i.e. a car accident or being robbed). But the experience of trauma can also be classified as “an extreme state of uncertainty and confusion…(which) violates our expectations about our life and world (Mock, 2020).”
It is an easy assumption to make that treating patients of COVID-19, and the associated death rate of those patients, is out of the realm of what most healthcare providers expected to experience during their professional tenure.
Symptoms of PTSD
The DSM-5 groups the symptoms of PTSD into five categories, which are listed below. If you believe that you may be struggling with symptoms of PTSD, read each section carefully and assess whether this is what you are experiencing.
- The Experience of a Traumatic Event
- If you are a healthcare worker treating COVID-19 patients, you are being exposed to trauma almost constantly. You are in a high-risk situation for multiple hours a day, are witnessing patients become extremely ill and/or pass away and are also watching your colleagues experience the same. This is trauma.
- Intrusion (re-experiencing)
- Do you experience intrusive memories and/or dreams of specific traumatic experiences?
- Do experience flashbacks where you feel as though you are back in the traumatic experience?
- Do you experience psychological distress and/or physiological reactions to reminders of traumatic experiences?
- Avoidance
- Do you do things to try to avoid having memories of traumatic experiences?
- Do you avoid external stimuli that remind you of traumatic experiences?
- Significant Impacts on Cognition and Mood
- Do you struggle to remember aspects of specific traumatic events?
- Are you holding onto negative beliefs about yourself, others and/or the world (ie: “The world is a dangerous place.”)?
- Are you blaming yourself or others?
- Do you experience persistent negative emotions such as fear, anger, or guilt?
- Are you finding that you are not interested in engaging in activities that you once enjoyed?
- Do you feel isolated or estranged from others?
- Do you feel as though you are unable to experience positive emotions?
- Significant Increase in Reactivity
- Are you experiencing more irritability and anger on a regular basis?
- Are you struggling to fall and/or stay asleep?
- Do you have trouble staying focused?
- Do you feel more hypervigilant and/or become startled more often?
What is Acute Stress Disorder?
Acute Stress Disorder is when you are experiencing the signs and symptoms of PTSD, but you experienced the traumatic event associated to their symptoms less than a month ago. If you are experiencing Acute Stress Disorder and your symptoms go untreated, they will likely then meet the criteria necessary for a diagnosis of PTSD.
Risk Factors for Healthcare Providers Treating COVID-19 Patients
Here are some factors that might put you at a greater risk for experiencing symptoms of PTSD during the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Frequency of Exposure to Traumatic Experiences
- If you are a healthcare working, offering direct care to COIVD-19 patients, you are most likely experiencing something traumatic every time you go to work (although, remember that it might not feel traumatic in-the-moment, because your body and brain are in “survival mode.”)
- No Time to Process Experiences
- One of the most important coping skills when experiencing trauma is speaking about those experiences out loud to someone else (preferably a trained professional). If you are a doctor or nurse that is consistently experiencing a new trauma each day at work, chances are that you have not yet had the chance to adequately process through these experiences.
- Sleep Issues Due to Shift Work. Sleep issues are extremely common with individuals doing shift work. But these sleep issues are bound to worsen if you are plagued with reoccurring memories of past traumas and intrusive thoughts about current sick patients.
- Relational Coping Skills Are Not Available
- Maybe you used to blow off steam from the stress of work by going to a fitness class or meeting friends for dinner. For most of us, these experiences are now high-risk and unavailable to us. It would make sense if, because of this, you are struggling to find new ways of coping with the constant stress at work.
What You Should Do If You Are Struggling with Symptoms of PTSD
Just as you provide medical attention to those in need, there are professionals waiting to help you overcome the psychological impacts of this pandemic. Studies have shown that just talk therapy alone, with a licensed mental health provider, is extremely helpful in lessoning the frequency, intensity, and duration of symptoms of PTSD and Acute Stress Disorder.
Taking the time to care for yourself when we are still in the middle of this health crisis may bring up some feelings of guilt. But remember: in order to go to work as your most capable self, you need take care of your own basic needs. During this pandemic, mental health care is one of those basic needs to which we must mindfully attend.