Thoughts of suicide or self-harm among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: qualitative analysis of open-ended survey responses

BJPsych Open

article

Marie Bismark¹  Natasha Smallwood²  Ria Jain⁴  Karen Willis⁵ 

[1] Centre for Health Policy, The University of Melbourne;Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Alfred Hospital;and Department of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, Central Clinical School, The Alfred Hospital and Monash University;Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University Clayton;Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University

关键词: COVID-19;    suicide;    self-harm;    healthcare workers;    patient safety;   

DOI  :  10.1192/bjo.2022.509

学科分类：计算机科学（综合）

来源: Canadian Society For Pharmaceutical Sciences (Csps).

【 摘 要 】

Background Healthcare workers are at higher risk of suicide than otheroccupations, and suicidal thoughts appear to have increasedduring the COVID-19 pandemic.AimsTo understand the experiences of healthcare workers with frequent thoughts of suicide or self-harm during the pandemic,including factors that contributed to their distress, and the supports that they found helpful.MethodWe used content analysis to analyse free-text responses to theAustralian COVID-19 Frontline Healthcare Workers Study, fromhealthcare workers who reported frequent thoughts that theywould be better off dead or of hurting themselves, on the PatientHealth Questionnaire-9.ResultsA total of 262 out of 7795 healthcare workers (3.4%) reportedfrequent thoughts of suicide or self-harm in the preceding 2weeks. They described how the pandemic exacerbated preexisting challenges in their lives, such as living with a mental illness, working in an unsupportive environment and facing personal stressors like relationship violence or unwell familymembers. Further deterioration in their mental health wastriggered by heavier obligations at home and work, amid painfulfeelings of loneliness. They reported that workplace demandsrose without additional resources, social and emotional isolationincreased and many healthful activities became inaccessible.Tokenistic offers of support fell flat in the face of multiple barriersto taking leave or accessing professional help. Validation of distress, improved access to healthcare and a stronger sense ofbelonging were identified as helpful supports.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the need for better recognition of predisposing, precipitating, perpetuating and protective factors forthoughts of suicide and self-harm among healthcare workers.

【 授权许可】

CC BY|CC BY-NC-SA|CC BY-NC-ND