A Lecture by Dr. Kranti Kadam - Psychiatrist and Additional Professor - Dept of Psychiatry, GSMC & KEMH was delivered on 'Mental Health Impact of Covid 19 on Health Care Workers' as part of the mental health week. She stated that stress is the reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demands placed upon them and arises when one worries that they can't cope. She added that Stress builds up, when we fear that we won't be able to solve the situation or a condition. She shared that every health worker is fighting with corona and with their stress as well. Stress causes psychological, emotional, behavioral, and medical affects and can worsen pre-existing medical illness. It also increases vulnerability to develop new illness because of low immunity.
Many times, health care workers have different set of problems like non-availability of PPE. She averred that health care workers also face anxiety of spreading the infection to their family members. She suggested using diaphragmatic breathing, yoga, physical exercise, and spot jogging to de-stress. She also advocated eating and sleeping well and how sharing thoughts and feelings is very important. She called for not watching negative news and instead opt for humorous content. She asked students to managing time to keep stress at bay and function efficiently. She pushed for setting goals and motivating themselves. She also suggested for building resilience and seek help from mental health professional if needed.