Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

The hidden adverse effects of COVID-19 on physician caregivers

Rebecca Elia, MD
Conditions
April 19, 2020
Share
Tweet
Share

As caregivers, our #1 role is protection — protecting our children, our elderly parents, our patients, even our staff and colleagues. Notice how I didn’t mention protecting ourselves? This is off-radar for most caregivers until they have no choice, until their own survival is threatened. The same is true for physicians. Self-protection is not a thought that commonly enters our minds.

COVID-19 places physician caregivers in the impossible position of sacrificing their protection of one group for another. We are left in a fail-fail scenario.

And our failure to protect those who are the most vulnerable, our most beloved, leads to further trauma to the physician caregiver. Simply, this pandemic is traumatizing our trauma teams.

I was one month late writing this post. Why? Because I was on call 24-7, twelve days straight, trying to protect my very elderly parents — one immunosuppressed and hospitalized in isolation, the other the most terrified and traumatized she has ever been in her almost century-long life. It took seven days before I realized I was terrified and traumatized too. Other than inquiring about the well-being of every single healthcare professional involved in my parent’s care, I could not begin to wrap my head around what my colleagues were experiencing–their suffering, their overwhelming feelings of guilt, of horrific failure (both as physicians and as parents/caregivers), their fears, their hidden traumas. Now I realize this delayed awareness is also common for them –as they continue to work in the trenches 24-7, day after day, week after week, soon month after month.

None of us are allowed to come up for air, literally, in the case of this virus. Instead, we actually put our lives in danger every time we take a deep breath.

But we continue to do what we do best. Emergency-mode. Urgent-mode. Trauma-mode. We delay assessing ourselves for lack of sleep, lack of food, lack of bathroom breaks–for multiple hours, if not days or weeks later. And because we are experts at functioning in trauma-mode, we become blinded to its potentially deadly effects on us.

If I could change this entire post to an enormous red-blinking WARNING sign, I would.

We are not prepared for the PTSD that will follow in the weeks, months, or even years ahead. It will be delayed. It may show up in unexpected or indirect ways, because, we physicians have perfected hiding our own trauma. So well, in fact, that we hide it from ourselves. All physicians and healthcare staff are at risk. Those who are caretakers are at even higher risk.

What do we do about this?

The first step is to bring this into our awareness — both as individuals and to our society as a whole.

The second step is to take action. Actions can be those of prevention, support, or healing. We need all.

Some of our media outlets are bringing this awareness of personal trauma into the public eye. Many courageous souls in the medical field are doing the same. I am heartened, for example, that our Surgeon General in California, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, an expert on toxic stress, has been given a voice during this pandemic to address exactly this. May she be one of many voices.

Groups are coming together to offer resources — colleagues supporting colleagues — psychiatrists, physician coaches, and more.

I encourage each one of us to become aware of our own needs, our own trauma — both new and newly reactivated–before it’s too late.

ADVERTISEMENT

I also encourage everyone who can play a supportive or healing role to do so.

Together, we can and will get through this. And if creating effective systems to address, prevent, and heal trauma and toxic stress is one of the positive by-products of this horrific pandemic, all the better.

Rebecca Elia is an obstetrics-gynecology physician and physician coach. She can be reached at her self-titled site, Rebecca Elia, MD.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Being a pregnant medical trainee just got more complicated in the COVID-19 era

April 19, 2020 Kevin 0
…
Next

The harsh reality of social distancing in rural America

April 19, 2020 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: COVID, Infectious Disease

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Being a pregnant medical trainee just got more complicated in the COVID-19 era
Next Post >
The harsh reality of social distancing in rural America

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Rebecca Elia, MD

  • What does it mean to be responsible during the COVID-19 pandemic?

    Rebecca Elia, MD
  • How the COVID-19 pandemic is traumatizing health care professionals

    Rebecca Elia, MD
  • Physicians just want respect in the time of COVID-19

    Rebecca Elia, MD

Related Posts

  • Observing the effects of COVID-19 on the pediatric population

    Amy Cox and Rachel Kalthoff
  • The long term effects of COVID-19 on medical education

    Samya Faiq, Harveen Kaur Sekhon, and Sharad Jain, MD
  • How to get patients vaccinated against COVID-19 [PODCAST]

    The Podcast by KevinMD
  • COVID-19 divides and conquers

    Michele Luckenbaugh
  • State sanctioned executions in the age of COVID-19

    Kasey Johnson, DO
  • A patient’s COVID-19 reflections

    Michele Luckenbaugh

More in Conditions

  • 5 cancer myths that could delay your diagnosis or treatment

    Joseph Alvarnas, MD
  • When bleeding disorders meet IVF: Navigating von Willebrand disease in fertility treatment

    Oluyemisi Famuyiwa, MD
  • What one diagnosis can change: the movement to make dining safer

    Lianne Mandelbaum, PT
  • How kindness in disguise is holding women back in academic medicine

    Sylk Sotto, EdD, MPS, MBA
  • Measles is back: Why vaccination is more vital than ever

    American College of Physicians
  • Hope is the lifeline: a deeper look into transplant care

    Judith Eguzoikpe, MD, MPH
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • Physician patriots: the forgotten founders who lit the torch of liberty

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Physician
    • The hidden cost of becoming a doctor: a South Asian perspective

      Momeina Aslam | Education
    • Why fixing health care’s data quality is crucial for AI success [PODCAST]

      Jay Anders, MD | Podcast
    • Closing the gap in respiratory care: How robotics can expand access in underserved communities

      Evgeny Ignatov, MD, RRT | Tech
    • Reclaiming trust in online health advice [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why fixing health care’s data quality is crucial for AI success [PODCAST]

      Jay Anders, MD | Podcast
    • Why so many physicians struggle to feel proud—even when they should

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • If I had to choose: Choosing the patient over the protocol

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How a TV drama exposed the hidden grief of doctors

      Lauren Weintraub, MD | Physician
    • Why adults need to rediscover the power of play

      Anthony Fleg, MD | Physician
    • How collaboration across medical disciplines and patient advocacy cured a rare disease [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • Physician patriots: the forgotten founders who lit the torch of liberty

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Physician
    • The hidden cost of becoming a doctor: a South Asian perspective

      Momeina Aslam | Education
    • Why fixing health care’s data quality is crucial for AI success [PODCAST]

      Jay Anders, MD | Podcast
    • Closing the gap in respiratory care: How robotics can expand access in underserved communities

      Evgeny Ignatov, MD, RRT | Tech
    • Reclaiming trust in online health advice [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why fixing health care’s data quality is crucial for AI success [PODCAST]

      Jay Anders, MD | Podcast
    • Why so many physicians struggle to feel proud—even when they should

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • If I had to choose: Choosing the patient over the protocol

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How a TV drama exposed the hidden grief of doctors

      Lauren Weintraub, MD | Physician
    • Why adults need to rediscover the power of play

      Anthony Fleg, MD | Physician
    • How collaboration across medical disciplines and patient advocacy cured a rare disease [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...