During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been watching for certain symptoms – fever, for example, or cough. But for anyone touched by this crisis there may also be psychological symptoms.
When he was in the Navy, UVA Nursing Professor Richard Westphal began studying the problem we now call stress injury – changes in behavior and attitude caused by trauma or threat to life, loss or grief, moral dilemmas and fatigue.
“It's associated with an extended period of exhaustion and demands on our coping without adequate resources over time," he explains. " Prior to the COVID experience, we were already seeing high levels of occupational stress, of stress injuries, of burnout and moral/ethical dilemmas, and so we went into the COVID experience already having an occupational stress burden.”
These stress injuries are most often seen during wars or in first responders and emergency medical personnel, but they can occur in anyone facing a crisis that disrupts our routines.
“How many of us use the patterns of our daily lives as a way to move through life and reassurance that things are going to be okay?" Westphal asks. "Those patterns have been lost, and people are left wondering, 'Who am I now that I can’t do what I trained and spent my life doing? Who am I now that I’m in this other role of full-time caregiver and home schooler?'”
In response, we may withdraw from relationships.
“We start to pull back from maybe our role as a parent or at work or from friends and colleagues. Social support is incredibly important, and that is where the irony of a stress injury comes in in that one of the signs of a stress injury is that people start pulling away from their social supports.”
Outgoing people may become withdrawn, quiet people more gregarious -- or easily irked.
“Often people have irritability. Their tolerance for things that used to be minor frustrations become more significant.”
And equally troubling – the victim of stress injury doesn’t necessarily know that something is wrong.
“One of the first things we lose with a stress injury is the ability to recognize how stressed we are.”
Ideally, Westphal says, friends or loved ones should express concern if they see worrisome changes and suggest constructive ways to cope.
First, find ways to feel safer.
“Much of what we’re seeing right now around the COVID experience – using masks, physical distancing, are issues around safety.”
Then, reach out to friends, family and colleagues -- talk about what’s going on. Learn new coping skills that bring your blood pressure down: meditation, exercise or keeping a journal.
“When people become agitated or experience a stress injury, the ability to physically give their body a break from the stress becomes very important.”
Find ways to solve problems, and cultivate a positive attitude toward the future.
“This confidence in the future isn’t a Pollyanna everything is going to work out. It’s that things work out for a reason and that ultimately as a family, as a team we’re going to get through this.”
Westphal says people may not be able to do these things on their own, but he wants the public to know there are mental health resources available in the community and online.
You can hear RADIO IQ's interview with Richard Westphal here:
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
