A new study finds that healthcare workers in the United States are struggling with a suite of mental-health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that healthcare workers are at greater risk than the general public of experiencing health problems such as depression.
One striking finding is that, on average, healthcare professionals reported enough symptoms of depression to be diagnosed with clinical depression.
“Our goal was to better understand the impact that COVID-19 was having on the mental well-being of healthcare workers,” says Ann Pearman, corresponding author of the study and a senior research scientist in the School of Psychology at Georgia Institute of Technology.
“What we learned suggests that anyone who identifies as a healthcare professional – whether it’s a physician or a support worker in a hospital – is at risk for mental-health problems that could be devastating if left untreated,” says Shevaun Neupert, a professor of psychology at North Carolina State University and co-author of the paper.
“These findings are alarming, and we need additional work to better capture the scope of this problem. What’s more, we need to be thinking about how we can help our healthcare workers.”
For this study, researchers conducted an online survey of 90 people who identified as healthcare workers. While most respondents were physicians, nurses and medical technicians, some held roles such as hospital administrators. The researchers also surveyed a control group of 90 people who did not work in healthcare, but matched the age and sex of the healthcare workers. The study ran from March 20 through May 14. Study participants came from 35 states.
The survey included demographic questions, as well as questions aimed at capturing various aspects of mental health and well-being.
Healthcare workers reported higher levels of stress, anxiety and tiredness, as well as lower feelings of control over their lives.
“We also found that the healthcare group averaged a depressive symptoms score that would qualify as clinical depression,” Neupert says. “It was approximately 30% higher than the depressive symptoms score for the control group. You don’t expect to see an entire workforce score like that on a depression diagnostic tool.”
The researchers also found that the healthcare workers were less likely to engage in “proactive coping,” meaning they were doing less to prepare themselves for future stresses or adverse events.
“Our findings suggest that healthcare workers are at much higher risk right now of negative outcomes, such as depression,” Neupert says. “That’s not sustainable, and we need to figure out what we’re going to do about it.”
The paper, “Mental health challenges of U.S. healthcare professionals during COVID-19,” is accepted in Frontiers in Psychology | Psychology for Clinical Settings. The paper was co-authored by Emily Smith of NC State and MacKenzie Hughes of Georgia Tech.
Note to Editors: The study abstract follows.
“Mental health challenges of U.S. healthcare professionals during COVID-19”
Authors: Ann Pearman and MacKenzie L. Hughes, Georgia Institute of Technology; Emily L. Smith and Shevaun D. Neupert, North Carolina State University
Published: Accepted July 27, Frontiers in Psychology | Psychology for Clinical Settings
Abstract: As COVID-19 continues to impact global society, healthcare professionals are at risk for a number of negative well-being outcomes due to their role as care providers. The objective of this study was to better understand the current psychological impact of COVID-19 on healthcare professionals in the U.S. This study used an online survey tool to collect demographic data and measures of well-being of adults age 18 and older living in the U.S. between March 20, 2020 and May 14, 2020. Measures included anxiety and stress related to COVID-19, depressive symptoms, current general anxiety, health questions, tiredness, control beliefs, proactive coping, and past and future appraisals of COVID-related stress. The sample included 90 healthcare professionals and 90 age-matched controls (Mage = 34.72 years, SD = 9.84, range = 23 – 67) from 35 U.S. states. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed, using education as a covariate, to identify group differences in the mental and physical health measures. Healthcare professionals reported higher levels of depressive symptoms, past and future appraisal of COVID-related stress, concern about their health, tiredness, current general anxiety, and constraint, in addition to lower levels of proactive coping compared to those who were not healthcare professionals (p < .001, η2 = .28). Within the context of this pandemic, healthcare professionals were at increased risk for a number of negative well-being outcomes. Potential targets, such as adaptive coping training, for intervention are discussed.
avuncularity on August 3rd, 2020 at 12:31 UTC »
Doctor suicide is a painful reality that hospitals, clinic networks, and medical schools go out of their way to deny.
But with the emergence of a documentary called Do No Harm, and a surge of media attention following the suicide of Dr. Lorna Breen during New York City’s first COVID peak, healthcare leaders are finally being forced to reckon with the ugly truth that in many institutions, medicine has become culture of abuse.
American physicians kill themselves at an alarmingly high rate. A least one doctor commits suicide every day in the US, according to research presented two years ago at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting. Investigators at the Harlem Hospital Center in New York conducted a systematic literature review of physician suicides and identified a staggering rate of 28 to 40 per 100,000––more than twice the general population’s suicide rate of 12.3 per 100,000.
The review also showed that doctors have the highest suicide rate among all professions, including jobs in other high-stress fields like the military or law enforcement.
Those statistics were identified before COVID-19. In 2020, the pandemic is only accelerating existing trends. Stories of medical professionals lost to suicide in the last 5 months are shining new light on long-standing and dangerous shortcomings in our systems of medical education and practice.
Read More Here
sailphish on August 3rd, 2020 at 11:06 UTC »
Physician here. I can tell you it is a BIG issue. What is worse is that on every license renewal and every credentialing application we need to answer questions about whether we are being treated for a mental health condition. There are countless stories about the kangaroo courts medical boards sanctioning providers who answer "yes" by placing them in mandated treatment programs, restricting their ability to practice independently... etc. These sorts of things were designed for physicians with drug addictions and severe mental health issues that impact their ability to safely practice medicine, not someone who took Prozac to deal with anxiety while working on the frontline during a global pandemic. Unfortunately, these types of actions by the medical boards also follow you for your entire life, and can have profoundly negative impacts on your career. There have been a number of posts on /r/medicine in the past few weeks asking how to get help without risking your career. The consensus is to find a psychiatrist/therapist far away from where you live, use a fake name, and pay cash. This is NOT how healthcare professionals should be forced to get treatment, especially for conditions induced by the very conditions they are practicing in. The situation is beyond fucked up.
fdc7719 on August 3rd, 2020 at 09:05 UTC »
We’re in for many secondary health crises. Many seriously ill people didn’t go to the ER, have followups or get procedures done for a few months. Many are now in really bad shape or dying. My wife has seen a spike in really sick people in the ICU, most of which had delayed care. The mental health impact for healthcare workers is anecdotally significant. I know several doctors and nurses. All of them are a bit on edge. Every single one are appalled at anti-maskers and hoax claims. At some point, something has to break. People can only take so much stress before the effects start to ripple through society.