Expert Psychotherapist’s Tips to Prevent Frontline Workers’ Mental Trauma amid Corona Crisis

Doctors, emergency responders, nurses, and clinical specialists are immediately called upon when there’s a calamity or emergency. Meeting the challenge of helping people in a time of scarce medical resources can be incredibly fulfilling, but it gives rise to many stressors. Witnessing disaster and tragedy, making life-and-death decisions, and, above all, putting yourself in danger, negatively affects your psychological wellbeing. Frontline workers repeatedly manage terrible coronavirus cases, so soldiering on through the many torments brings about a snowball effect, which soon inflicts horrible trauma and burnout, a condition of mental and physical weariness.

“Even during a time of emergency, dealing with your emotional needs is not at all selfish,” says Dr. Lisa Palmer, a leading psychotherapist, healer, national media expert, and the Founder and Director of The Renew Center of Florida, ranked by Newsmax as the #1 Center for the Treatment of Trauma and PTSD in America. “After all, if you can’t maintain your sanity and ability to function, how could you possibly assist others in need?” asks Palmer. “By permitting yourself to take breaks, requesting help, and working in groups instead of individually for lengthy stretches of time, you’ll have both the vitality and mettle to more readily help other people.”

Dr. Palmer wishes all the frontline soldiers battling against COVID-19 to remain mentally healthy through this tough time. She is well-known for her exceptional recuperating methods that rapidly, viably, and effectively change how the mind responds to traumas. Palmer’s approach is to “encourage people to reshape their future, by reinventing how the brain responds to life events”, and consequently help them to settle on new and better decisions in accord with a healthy lifestyle.

Dr. Palmer’s expertise and success have earned her national and global attention, with appearances on FOX, CBSN, CNN, MSNBC, SKY TV, Cheddar TV and RT America to raise awareness of and counter the stigma surrounding mental health issues. She has appeared on such talk shows as ‘Primetime Justice with Ashleigh Banfield’ and ‘Dr. Drew’ and ‘Crime Watch Daily,’ examining hotly debated issues, addictions, innovation, news, and mainstream society as it relates to mental health.

With her years of experience, Dr. Palmer stresses that the healthcare professionals and frontline soldiers must focus on preventing mental stress and anxiety rather than simply reacting to and curing it. Here are her guidelines to keep personal stress at bay:

Shut Your Exposure to Media

While a few survivors or observers of tragic incidents succeed in recapturing a feeling of control by watching news and recovery operations in the media, others find the constant updates further psychologically damaging. Exorbitant exposure to images of an upsetting event — such as repeated viewing of video clips on Facebook, Instagram or a news channel — can cause immense stress in an individual.

So, reduce curtail your media viewing of horrendous stories: At least an hour before bedtime, avoid watching the news and cease reading the torrent of viral posts and clips of coronavirus patients cascading through social media.

If you reduce your news and clip viewing but you still feel crushed, enjoy a total reprieve from the news. Distance yourself from TV and online news and quit checking the internet for a couple of days or weeks until your traumatic stressors soothe down. Then you’ll be ready to proceed onward.

Embrace Your Emotions

A diverse set of troublesome and unexpected emotions result from stress, including shock, outrage, guilt, and regret. These feelings are a typical response to the loss of wellbeing and security that occur in a calamity’s wake. Embracing and coming to terms with these awful sentiments and permitting yourself to feel what you feel is essential for the recuperation process.

Here are some tips for managing agonizing feelings:

· Give yourself an opportunity to recuperate and to grieve any loss you’ve encountered

· Try not to attempt to force the procedure of healing and to get over the loss

· Be patient, it takes time to heal from the stress

· Be mentally prepared to tackle the stress and not be overwhelmed by it

· Permit yourself to feel whatever you’re feeling without judgment or blame

· Figure out how to reconnect with awkward feelings

Do Not Let Helplessness Take Its Toll

Conquering stress starts by making a move. Positive activity can assist you with beating emotions of fear, vulnerability, and sadness — even little activities can have a significant effect.

Connect with others influenced by the horrible mishap or take an interest in memorials, occasions, and other open ceremonies. Feeling associated with others and recalling with them the lives lost in the event can help conquer the feeling of alienation and misery that often follows such an incident.

Another way to handle stress is through the disciple of meditative and relaxation techniques. As Dr. Palmer says: “I would heartily advise all the brave frontline workers to incorporate any sort of relaxation technique in their daily routine to combat stress. Just ten minds of meditation, yoga, or any other mindful exercise will help you to cope with the stress.”

Thus, there are many ways of countering the debilitating effects of stress during a catastrophic situation. Even so, that does not reduce the severity of it nor the great personal challenge necessary to master it, along with the fact that, out of a sense of duty, many frontline workers strive to cope with harsh events, whether or not they have a full grip on their emotional reaction to them.

As Dr. Palmer concludes: “In this time when the world is overrun with mental health issues, stress, anxiety, and depression, frontline workers must be praised for their selfless contribution to the fight against the COVID-19. We cannot thank you enough.”