Psychological distress of the newly rehabilitated people attracts attention: Some people worry that Fuyang will detect nucleic acids ten times a month
Surging News Reporter Deng Yafei Intern Chen Zijia
Lin Duo (pseudonym) was diagnosed with new coronary pneumonia in January 2020, and recovered and discharged from hospital in February. Afterwards, he fell into the mental distress of doubting whether he would regain yang.
Whenever she saw that her new crown patient's condition was aggravating or even dying, or that the number of asymptomatic infections had increased before, she was “afraid that her body would never recover from the past, and even more afraid of infecting her child, causing severe insomnia and anxiety. Once lost confidence in life." Lin Duo told Peng Mei News that in the face of her concerns, she conducted nucleic acid tests up to ten times in March. "Even if I get a negative result every time, I still can't get out of my inner troubles."
A number of psychologists in Wuhan City told Peng Mei News that most of the new patients in the outpatient clinic have been affected by the epidemic and caused psychological problems of varying degrees. Mei Junhua, deputy chief physician of the Sleep Medicine Center of the First Hospital of Wuhan City, told reporters that in the past month or so, the outpatient volume has been almost "saturated", and almost half of the patients' sleep disorders and various symptoms are related to this outbreak.
Patient's "somatization reaction"
"Will I suddenly regain yang? Will my child be infected by me? Will my body never recover..." In March of this year, these worries were again and again in the mind of Lin Duo, a patient with new coronary pneumonia Appeared once.
Lin Duo, unable to concentrate on work and life, chose to repeatedly perform nucleic acid tests to confirm his health. When she got negative results again and again, she would feel at ease at that time, but soon became anxious again. Throughout March, she often felt listless when she took her children, lost interest in life and couldn't sleep at night.
In early April, Lin Duo came to the Outpatient Department of Sleep Disorders and Psychosomatic Diseases of Wuhan First Hospital. Lin Jun’s attending doctor Mei Junhua told Peng Mei News that the patient’s sleep disturbance is closely related to the anxiety and depression caused by the epidemic. "Through all-night sleep polysomnography, we found that her sleep efficiency was only 30%, and there was almost no deep sleep."
In response to Lin Duo's chest tightness and fatigue symptoms, the doctor arranged for her to check lung function, lung CT and blood biochemistry, electrolytes and other tests, and found no organic diseases.
"The problem is still emotional, the patient's emotional problems or psychological disorders are not manifested as psychological symptoms, but converted into various physical symptoms, we also call this'somatization reaction.'" Mei Junhua said.
At first, Lin Duo could not accept that her physical discomfort was caused by emotions, and she did not believe what the doctor said "you are recovering well without worrying." In the most desperate time, Lin Duo believed that "having a new crown will have an impact on my life. I can't sleep well in this life, and I can't work and live a good life."
After a period of treatment, she gradually established a sense of trust with the doctor and began to understand that her sleep disorders are closely related to anxiety and depression. After more than a month of drug treatment and psychological counseling, Lin Duo's mood gradually improved and his physical discomfort slowly subsided.
Because she is more and more confident that she can recover, she has never taken the initiative to do nucleic acid testing after the visit. Recalling the experience of the past few months, Lin Duo said, "It is indeed a psychological problem. Now I can finally face life and work with ease and take care of my children with peace of mind. I am very grateful to Dr. Mei for his help. I hope that patients with new coronary pneumonia who are in the same situation as me can get rid of their inner trauma as soon as possible."
"About 80% of new patients are affected by the epidemic and cause psychological problems"
The above patients are not alone in Wuhan due to repeated nucleic acid tests due to concerns about infection.
Mei Junhua told reporters that she had a patient who went downstairs in early February and dumped garbage. In retrospect, she found that she did not seem to be wearing a mask, so she checked many nucleic acid tests in the next few months. In early April, the patient came to see you because of sleep disturbance.
A deputy chief physician of the Department of Neuroscience, Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology ("Wuhan Tongji Hospital" for short) also told a similar case to Peng Pai journalists. On May 29, a 30-year-old man came to the hospital outpatient clinic and stated his "extreme fear" of new coronary pneumonia.
According to the above-mentioned deputy chief physician, during the epidemic, this patient had symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite, loss of taste and other similar symptoms of new coronary pneumonia. After the "blocking" in Wuhan, the patient immediately went to Wuhan Tongji Hospital for nucleic acid testing. The result was Negative. After returning home, the patient regretted that he should not go to the hospital, and then kept thinking about the details of the way back to the hospital and the nucleic acid test, worrying that he might be infected. "Out of fear, he repeatedly performed eight or nine nucleic acid tests within a month."
The deputy chief physician also said that about 80% of the new patients in her department's outpatient department were affected by the epidemic and caused psychological problems. "Many of the patients who came to the hospital because of anxiety and depression were teenagers with learning pressure, but the proportion of patients between 40-50 years old was as high as 70% during this period. These people have a higher proportion of basic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. High-risk groups of new coronary pneumonia, so they may be more anxious."
Doctors call for confronting psychological problems, identifying and intervening in time
According to Mei Junhua, on March 26, after the outpatient clinic for sleep psychosomatic diseases in Wuhan No. 1 Hospital began to receive consultations, the outpatient volume was almost "saturated", and almost half of the patients had sleep disorders and various symptoms related to the epidemic. Related, there are three main groups of patients: New Coronary Pneumonia rehabilitation patients and their families, patients with a history of sleep psychological disease but not suffering from New Coronary Pneumonia, anti-epidemic front-line staff.
Why do these patients have "sequelae" of post-epidemic mentality?
"Many Xinguan rehabilitation patients have a lot of mental stress during treatment, and still feel unwell after returning home. They will come to the clinic to repeatedly complain of symptoms such as panic, chest tightness, hot flashes, sweating, insomnia, and nervousness," said Mei Junhua. Isolation during the epidemic may have caused stress to these patients and left a psychological shadow, so it is more likely to appear related symptoms such as restlessness, restlessness, nervousness and even depression. In addition, the rehabilitated patients have also returned to different environments after being discharged from the hospital. They may continue to hear the reminder of "If you can, please stay at home", some people may face personal financial crisis, etc. These external social impacts may exacerbate mental health problems. .
In addition, anti-epidemic front-line workers such as police, community workers, and medical personnel are also the main groups for medical treatment. "In a busy situation, they don't have the energy to pay attention to their emotions, but after resting, they found abnormalities in their bodies. Several patients always suffer from sweating at night, light sleep and easy to wake up, and are listless and depressed during the day. The work efficiency is significantly lower than before the epidemic." Mei Junhua said that the psychological status of these groups is mostly a mild to moderate problem, but also requires intervention and adjustment.
According to Mei Junhua, for patients who come to the hospital, the hospital will first rule out organic diseases, and then systematically assess whether the diagnosis of the patient is anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or other diseases, and then find the cause of psychotherapy , Drug therapy, physical therapy and other comprehensive treatments, combined with health education and other means to help patients in all directions.
She suggested that if you continue to experience symptoms such as anxiety, nervousness, and difficulty falling asleep, you should seek medical advice in a timely manner and seek the help of a professional doctor. You can also seek help and solve problems through various channels such as the community and assistance hotlines. In addition, while wearing a mask, go out more activities, communicate with friends and family, and receive sunlight, which are good for maintaining good mood and sleep quality.