LONDON (Reuters) – Nearly half of employees working in intensive care units (ICUs) in England in the COVID-19 pandemic experience severe anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, with some reporting that they would be better dead, according to com to a study published on Wednesday.
Many nurses and ICU doctors reach the clinical limit for PTSD, anxiety or alcohol problems, and the symptoms are so severe that some have reported contemplating self-mutilation or suicide.
This acutely deficient mental health among the ICU team that cares for seriously ill and dying COVID-19 patients can impair their ability to work effectively and impair their quality of life, said the researchers who led the study.
More than 81,000 people died of COVID-19 in Britain, the fifth highest official death rate in the world in the global pandemic.
More than 3 million people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19 and the government says intensive care hospitals and wards are on the verge of being overwhelmed.
The pressure on the ICU team – who work with very sick patients for long periods in areas where the risk of exposure to COVID-19 is high and where the lack of staff and equipment pose problems on a daily basis – has been particularly high.
“The high mortality rate among COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU, together with the difficulty of communication and the provision of adequate end-of-life support to patients … are probably highly challenging stressors for all employees working in ICUs, ”said Neil Greenberg, a professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, who co-led the research.
The study, published in the journal Occupational Health, was conducted in June and July – before Britain began to have its latest outbreak of infections.
He found that among more than 700 health professionals in nine ICUs across England, 45% had reached the limit of likely clinical significance for at least one of the four serious mental disorders: severe depression (6%), PTSD (40%), severe anxiety (11%) or drinking problem (7%).
More worrying, the researchers said, more than one in eight of the study participants reported frequent thoughts of suicide or self-harm – such as thinking about being better dead or getting hurt – in the previous two weeks.
The findings “highlight the profound potential impact that COVID-19 has had on the mental health of UK frontline employees,” said Greenberg, and show an urgent need for readily accessible mental health services for all health professionals.
Reporting by Kate Kelland, edited by Timothy Heritage