The month of June is recognized as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month to raise public awareness about issues related to PTSD, reduce stigma surrounding PTSD, and help the more than 8 million people in the U.S. living with PTSD access effective treatment options.
What is PTSD?
Some people who experience a shocking, scary, or dangerous event or events can develop PTSD, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Most people who go through trauma will recover from their initial symptoms, but those who experience certain long-term, or chronic, symptoms may be diagnosed with PTSD. To be diagnosed with PTSD, an adult must experience one (or more) symptom in each of these categories following trauma:
- Re-experiencing symptoms: These can include recurrent and intrusive memories, dreams, or flashbacks.
- Avoidance symptoms: These include behaviors such as avoiding people, places, or situations that arouse disturbing memories.
- Negative changes in cognition or mood: These symptoms include persistent negative emotions, such as fear, guilt, or shame; an inability to feel happy or satisfied; or diminished interest in activities.
- Arousal and reactivity symptoms: These might include irritable behavior or outbursts of anger, problems with concentration, or self-destructive behavior.
Anyone at any age who has experienced physical or sexual assault, combat, disasters, accidents, or other instances of harm, or witnessed death, can develop PTSD.
Healthcare Workers and PTSD
The COVID-19 pandemic represents a traumatic event for many healthcare workers. Long working hours; insufficient supplies, training and funding; long-term use of personal protective equipment (PPE); and high rates of mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients could be traumatizing for some frontline workers.
A literature review published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health details how the COVID-19 pandemic has posed unpredictable stressors for healthcare workers, including symptoms leading to PTSD. A group of Italian researchers reviewed literature from February 2020 to October 2020 that evaluated post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and/or PTSD in healthcare workers due to the pandemic. The review found that predictors of PTSS among healthcare workers included young age, little work experience or training, female gender, heavy workload, working in unsafe settings, and lack of social support.
Researchers from the Yale School of Public Health released results from a study, published in PLOS ONE, that surveyed more than 1,000 healthcare workers about their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results showed nearly one-quarter of respondents displayed common symptoms of PTSD and 43% had probable alcohol use disorder (AUD). The research found that a lack of social support, including separation from friends and family, was associated with poor mental health outcomes, including PTSD and AUD. Additionally, a lack of team cohesion, including supervisor support, difficulty adhering to hospital policies, and an inability to meaningfully connect with patients because of intrusive PPE were cited as institutional-level factors associated with poorer mental health outcomes.
Treatment Options: How to Get Help
PTSD and associated symptoms are treatable. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD, effective treatments include psychotherapy (talk therapy) or medication. Talk therapy focuses on the memory and/or meaning of the traumatic event, visualizing it, and talking about the event with a psychotherapist to help process emotions and reactions.
As a member of the HERO Registry, healthcare workers, their friends and family members can share their experiences at work, at home, and in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This information helps researchers learn about how the pandemic is impacting the mental health of different individuals, information that can inform future research and better responses. You can join here.
If you or someone you know needs immediate help with symptoms of or PTSD, call 1-800-273-8255, or visit the National Center for PTSD’s website for other helpful information.
Sources:
Burnout, Alcohol, PTSD: Health Workers Are Suffering
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD