Stress researcher: Healthcare professionals can get the same syndrome as war veterans

The marathon corona pandemic has been going on for months and there is still no finish line in sight. At the same time, international organizations and researchers warn that the psychological effects risk becoming far-reaching among those who worked in the eye of the storm.

Stress researcher Alexander Wilczek, former head of operations at Ersta Psychiatric Clinic, which has long treated healthcare professionals for mental health problems, shares the picture. He believes that the pandemic hit Swedish healthcare in the middle of an epidemic of stress diseases among employees.

- They have been in a very difficult and tense situation in recent months. I see a huge risk of a new increase, says the former chief physician in psychiatry.

Many doctors, nurses and care staff have been forced to make difficult ethical decisions, seen people die without their relatives present and taken extra work shifts despite concerns about being infected themselves. Experiences that risk leaving deep traces, according to Wilczek.

- Many have ended up in a pang of conscience and felt powerless. It should be remembered that at first there was no clue how to treat these patients. Almost whatever you did, some died from one, which can be a traumatic experience.

Wilczek sees above all a forthcoming increase in fatigue syndrome, but also for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - a disease previously mainly associated with war veterans. When the tributes of the medical staff are silenced and the corona storm blows over, the memory images can be reminded.

- We know that from the American Vietnam veterans. Many also felt ashamed, says Wilczek and takes the elderly care staff as an example.

- They're probably having a very tough time. They have toiled like animals with inadequate management, instructions and equipment. Now they stand and must bear a kind of responsibility for the shortcomings of their organizations. Therefore, it is probably important that the appreciation shown here for the care employees continues.