LONDON (Reuters) – Nearly half of the staff working in the intensive care units (ICU) in England in the COVID-19 pandemic have severe anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, and according to some it is better to die be, to a study published Wednesday.
Many ICU nurses and doctors meet the clinical threshold for PTSD, anxiety or problem drinking, and the symptoms are so severe that some believe they are considering self-harm or suicide.
The researchers who led the study are likely to severely impair such mental health among ICU staff who are seriously ill and caring for dying COVID-19 patients.
More than 81,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Britain, the world’s fifth highest official death toll in the global pandemic.
More than 3 million people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19 disease and the government says hospitals and intensive care units are on the verge of being overwhelmed.
The pressure on ICU staff – who work for very long periods with very ill patients in areas where the risk of exposure to COVID-19 is high and where there is a daily shortage of staff and equipment – is high.
“The high mortality rate among COVID-19 patients admitted to ICUs, coupled with communication problems and inadequate end-of-life support to patients … are likely to be very challenging stressors for all staff working in ICUs,” he said. Neil Greenberg, a professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, said that led along with the research.
The study, published in the journal Occupational Health, was conducted in June and July – before Britain began experiencing its latest increase in infections.
It found that 45% among more than 700 health professionals in nine ICUs in England reached the threshold for probable clinical significance for at least one of four severe mental disorders: major depression (6%), PTSD (40%), severe anxiety (11% ) or problem drink (7%).
Most worryingly, the researchers said that more than one in eight of those in the study had regularly reported self-harming or suicidal thoughts – such as thinking they would be better off or hurting themselves – in the past two weeks.
The findings “highlight the potential profound impact that COVID-19 has had on the mental health of UK frontline staff,” Greenberg said, pointing to an urgent need for mental health services to be immediately accessible to all health professionals.
Reporting by Kate Kelland, Edited by Timothy Heritage