The psychiatrist’s chair is no longer even a chair.
These days, Dr. Marra Ackerman sees her patients through a computer screen on a desk in her Manhattan apartment, reminding caregivers to prepare for new waves of viruses.
They are doctors, nurses, medical technicians and other front-line health workers, many of them. They join her from the hospital break rooms, from the quiet corners of the cafeteria (when they can find one) or after they finally collapse at home after another emotionally exhausting change in the long battle against COVID-19.
“It’s like what they tell you on the plane,” he said, briefly turning away from his urgent mental health mission. “Put on your oxygen mask first. If we don’t practice personal care, we run the risk of getting burned and we run the risk of not being able to provide the ideal care at the bedside”. She keeps delivering the same message : “Yes, it is for you. But it is also for his colleagues, for his patients and for the community in general.
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As director of the home staff mental health program at NYU Langone Health, Ackerman organized 25 support groups for employees in the hospital system, while maintaining a personalized therapy practice. Now that the number of coronavirus patients is decreasing at the moment and that emergency rooms and intensive care units are a little less closed, the practical healers of New York finally catch their breath and prepare for the next wave and the next like It could be a very long war.
Read the last one: Coronavirus update: global case number exceeds 5.5 million as WHO warns of ‘second peak’ of risk in current wave of infection
“It’s the right word, war,” he said. “This is a war for health, and PTSD is part of the equation. Even with all the tremendous stress, most front-line health workers will not have major mental health issues. But most of them will experience some degree of anxiety, anxiety, sleep disturbance, irritability, or just feeling depressed. “Three months after the worst of the crisis,” many people are already having these feelings. “
Overcoming them now will determine the severity of the price they are likely to extract later.
“It may seem really unnecessary when we lose a patient,” said Ackerman. “But we also see people recovering. We know that we have been able to make a big group effort, just by introducing ourselves, treating people, preventing more infections, providing comfort and care, this time when so many patients are isolated from their families. “
It is also crucial to consider these achievements that have saved lives. They give power.
“September 11 was very traumatic,” said the hospital psychiatrist. “But this pandemic is an ongoing struggle on a daily basis. People are afraid that their own lives will be in danger if they fall ill. We certainly have an idea of the risk factors and the most vulnerable people. But the consequences did not follow the exact models that we expected. Much is still unknown.
Who wouldn’t care?
The mental health team that Ackerman supervises is there for immediate consultation when a hospital employee feels the need. Team members are constantly on the lookout for signs of distress. They are always on the lookout for new procedures that can more easily alleviate tensions.
“Much of what we can provide,” he said, “is validation. Basic support What we call psychological first aid. How do you create a sense of calm? How do you deal with anxiety “How are you moving right now? It’s really difficult.”
There are tools to help with all of this, ways to guide caregivers to peace in the midst of pain. “We use what we call radical acceptance,” said Ackerman, “by trying to accept the things we cannot change and by acknowledging the feelings that go with it.” Sadness sometimes.
No one expects this wave of COVID-19 to be the last. Ackerman and members of his mental health team are already preparing for the next one. What might surprise you is how many of these mental pressures now apply to all of us, in and out of the healthcare world.
Also read: Alcoholism, anxiety and other personal battles: in New York and elsewhere, people trade in-person support for alternatives at a distance
“We have learned a few lessons,” said the doctor. “We have procedures to control the spread of the infection. But as a psychiatrist, I am also concerned about the mental health risks of continued social isolation. This piece of the puzzle is really difficult. We must continue to try to protect ourselves from the risk to public health of spreading this infection or having a resurgence. Social distancing and isolation will continue to be important until we have a vaccine. But we also need to find a way to be safe with others. It is really important for our mental health and for the social and emotional development of our children. We have to socialize.
“I am concerned that depression, anxiety disorders, fear of being in a social environment can all get worse the more we are afraid of spending time with other people. We have to face it. How to find this common ground?