A psychiatrist explores the mental health of physicians

"We know that the past two months haven’t been easy. We know about the sleepless nights, anger, tears, depression, and anxiety. We know all of this because we know what trauma does to a person, and you are in the middle of experiencing a repeated trauma. The trauma of watching patients die in ways you’ve never seen, the trauma of watching colleagues die, the trauma of knowing what exactly this virus could do to you if you were to become infected.

We know that some of you feel helpless in your role as a physician, and that inability to control things that you are used to controlling is disrupting your confidence. For some of you, the frustration with your institutions is making it difficult to make through each shift."

Nicole B. Washington is a psychiatrist and can be reached at her self-titled site, drnicolepsych.com.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "To every physician from the psychiatrists who are here to support you." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/05/to-every-physician-from-the-psychiatrists-who-are-here-to-support-you.html)