COVID fatigue taking a toll on mental health and Washington hospitals

COVID fatigue taking a toll on mental health and Washington hospitals

By Onlykhabar News Media Tue 13 October, 2020 ( about 5 years ago ) 🎤546 Viewershealth

At Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, emergency room doctors are seeing about 1,200 patients every month for anxiety and depression.

The fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen for many in our state as millions more are now suffering from anxiety and depression, with doctors spread thin and hospital beds scarce. Since August, there has been a significant surge in mental health cases arriving at the Providence E.R. Children are becoming an even bigger concern.  That's a more than 20% increase from the pre-COVID days. Now, nearly half of those patients are needing to be admitted to the hospital.

"What we’re experiencing in the emergency department is, not only are the numbers up, but how sick people are, the severity of their illness," said Dr. Ryan Keay, the department's director.  State statistics show that in September, 1.6 million people suffered from anxiety most days with another 850,000 falling victim to depression.  What's more, the coronavirus casualties aren’t always the patients. Sometimes doctors become patients, as well. "They feel hopeless. They feel isolated. They feel like they can’t get access to services they’ve had in the past," said Keay. 

"They feel hopeless. They feel isolated. They feel like they can’t get access to services they’ve had in the past," said Keay. That means until a bed is available, psychiatric patients end up being shipped off to hospitals that aren’t equipped to treat them, prolonging the pain of a pandemic with no end in sight. Anecdotally, Keay said incidents of child abuse and domestic violence appear to be on the rise as well.  Doctors say the emotional crisis connected to coronavirus is hitting all walks of life. 

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By Onlykhabar News Media Tue 13 October, 2020 🎤546 Viewershealth
TAGS: USA Covid - 19 Washington
COVID fatigue taking a toll on mental health and Washington hospitals

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