Psychologist reveals mental toll on virus fight’s frontlines

Emotionally drained and stressed but still dedicated to the job is how one of the island’s top clinical psychologists described the state of mind among medical professionals on the frontlines of the COVID-19 fight.

Registered Clinical Psychologist Felicia Gill, who has been working at the Harrison Point coronavirus hospital for the past nine months gave the assessment during a media tour of the facility on Wednesday.

Gill is tasked with helping both patients and staff cope with the mental and emotional stresses which are directly or indirectly caused by the raging pandemic.

For Gill, the hardest period over the last several months has been speaking to the family members of patients who have died from COVID-19.  These experiences continue to stick with her, she said, even as she continues to speak to intensive care patients that are currently on ICU support because of their low oxygen levels.

She said: “My hardest moments have been working with the families of those who have died from COVID- what I have to do, is as soon as the patient has passed away, I speak with the family, I sometimes relay to them what has happened, and then I am there to help them to cope with the situation. Also some of the patients who passed away, I would have been speaking to them before that point in time.

“My experience working with the patients in the primary isolation facility, or what we know as the ICU, that has also been challenging as well, because whenever I go into ICU and I see the patients, those who are on oxygen, those who may be on the CPAP machine… I have to go and help these patients as best as I can, because it is very difficult. Especially for patients who, things might have been okay, but then having their condition deteriorating to a point, where they now have to use oxygen.”

The current surge in COVID-19 cases, coupled with the long hours and months of work in the midst of the pandemic, has left many in the medical community dealing with high levels of stress and fatigue, she told COVID 19 Public Advisor David Ellis.

“Staff are overwhelmed, and overworked, and we are also understaffed,” Gill said. “We try our best to work with the patients, and as you see, the numbers have been steadily increasing, and that has made things a little more challenging as well. Even though we are feeling overwhelmed at this point, we [think] of ourselves as a team and as a family, and we support each other here.

“When we recognize that it’s becoming a bit challenging, we just give each other an encouraging word, so as to help the others to keep going on, because this job can be a bit draining. We are trying to do our best for our country, to help the patients as best as we can.”

Mirroring comments from other medical professionals, Gill cautioned Barbadians, in particular young Barbadians, to take the virus seriously, as the rise in numbers continues to be a worrying trend for the medical fraternity.

“Protect yourselves,” she declared. “You know what is happening in this country. I want you to wear your masks, I want you to social distance, I want you to think about your friends [and] your classmates. I know it is difficult being separated from your friends, having online school, I know it can be a bit stressful, and you can even become a bit depressed.

“I want you to remember the reason why we are doing this, you want to protect yourselves, and you also want to protect your family. We can do this together, as long as we do what we are supposed to do.” (SB)