Abstract
The recent COVID-19 pandemic impacted healthcare professionals psychologically. They were unprepared to handle such a powerful and unknown virus. Consequently, they had to face situations of extreme distress, developing vicarious traumatization and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The first one is associated with the “cost of caring” for others and affected persons who constantly are exposed to other sufferings. PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that could affect people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and correlated symptoms might impact the lives of healthcare professionals at the personal, professional, and relational levels. Furthermore, the pandemic could decrease the empathy of healthcare professionals, influencing their relationship with patients. This review aimed to describe the incidence of PTSD among HPs during the COVID-19 pandemic. We focused on the following aspects: (a) PTSD symptoms and correlated psychological issues, (b) repercussions at working and personal levels, (c) change in empathetic involvement of healthcare professionals.
Highlights
There is a large amount of research on the psychological effect of pandemics faced by humans over time, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS), Ebola, and COVID-19 [1, 2]
healthcare professionals (HPs) are trained to have a high tolerance toward difficult situations, they can be at risk of vicarious traumatization or secondary traumatic stress [37, 42]
Health emergencies are associated with higher risk for HPs in developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and correlated symptoms [43, 44] such as physical and emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and dissociation [43, 45]
Summary
There is a large amount of research on the psychological effect of pandemics faced by humans over time, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS), Ebola, and COVID-19 [1, 2]. These results showed negative psychological outcomes on human well-being caused by the separation from loved ones, loss of freedom, uncertainty about the state of the disease, and uneasiness. Since December 2019, we are facing a new infection, called novel coronavirus or COVID-19 [6] This infection spread out rapidly and caused mortality and contagion, producing a strong psychological impact on the population.
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