Not just patients, second wave of Corona left docs mentally scarred too

Surat: The second wave of Covid-19 inflicted mental scars not just on patients or the kin of those who succumbed to the virus but also the treating doctors. Having witnessed, from close quarters, the death of younger ones and the sudden demise of patients who seemed to be recovering has left some doctors deeply disturbed.
It’s been almost two months since the second wave hit its peak and currently cases are down. Still, a city doctor couple, who looked after the patients in ICU, is unable to overcome the trauma. The two are taking help of a psychiatrist to improve their private life. They are finding it difficult to get intimate with each other and are sleeping in different rooms.
It is not an isolated case. Another doctor couple, on similar Covid-19 duties, is taking counselling from a psychiatrist to help them come out of the trauma to revive their relationship.
“The doctor couple claimed that they can’t enjoy a cosy moment with each other since they handled some of the most critical cases and saw patients, who seemed to be recovering, die all of sudden. The main reason for shock was the sudden death of a patient who was normal a few hours ago,” said Dr Mukul Choksi, who is helping a few such doctors to come out of the trauma.
Dr Parimal Desai is a psychiatrist who has treated multiple cases of anxiety. “Many doctors came for treatment and counselling complaining that they suffered nightmares and weren’t able to sleep properly. In sleep they saw RT-PCR reports, ventilator settings or CT-Scan reports,” said Desai.
The two waves of Covid resulted in 1.11 lakh of the city population getting infected with 1,629 patients succumbing to the virus. The second wave, particularly, stretched the health infrastructure to its limit and took a heavy toll on healthcare workers.
Explaining the severe impact of the horrific situation during peak of Covid-19 a senior doctor in Surat Municipal Corporation said, “A senior doctor who handled critical cases during the peak has developed a habit of cross verifying multiple times with his hospital staff before signing a document. The doctor is just not able to concentrate. His is a severe case of anxiety.”
An intervention specialist stopped going to hospital after developing fear of wearing a PPE kit. Later, his wife approached a psychiatrist for help. “The doctor felt panic soon after putting on the kit and he could not work hence he stopped going to his hospital,” said a psychiatrist.
Meanwhile, Dr Trupti Patel, a psychiatrist explains how hospital staff, apart from doctors, are also facing severe mental conditions. “I was treating a female psychologist who handled Covid-19 patients for an NGO. She was suffering from compassion fatigue and got angry with patients. She was depressed and felt guilty about how she could not help people dying due to Covid,” added Patel.