Having dealt with the months-long terror of crammed ICUs, unavailable PPE and the fear of getting infected, the coronavirus crisis is taking its toll on healthcare workers' mental health. 

After 15 years as an emergency doctor, Anand Swaminathan was familiar with the traumatic experiences that came along with his job – treating victims of shootings, stabbings and terrible incidents of domestic violence. But it was the relentless, months-long influx of patients during the Covid-19 pandemic that made him seek therapy for the first time.

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered vast governmental lockdowns. The impact of these lockdowns on mental health is inadequately understood. On the one hand such drastic changes in daily routines could be detrimental to mental health. On the other hand, it might not be experienced negatively, especially because the entire population was affected.

Methods

There are a number of challenges in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease outbreak encountered by many countries in the world. This commentary divides them into those encountered by (health) care delivery systems and those encountered by affected communities and states. There are also a number of stressors experienced by humanitarian field workers during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised significant concerns for individual and population mental health. Physical health consequences of the virus, public health prevention measures and economic slowdown negatively impact mental health and pose challenges for the continuation of mental health services. To learn how healthcare workers responded to these difficulties, the Mental Health Innovation Network in collaboration with the World Health Organization Department of Mental Health and Substance Use launched a global call for stories from healthcare workers.