“My name is Megmallar and I am a doctor based in Kolkata. I volunteered for the COVID team, as a doctor, determined to save everyone who was suffering from the virus but then everything just turned into bad news for all of us. No matter how many lockdowns the government ordered, in 4.0 lockdown, we have 1 lac 70,000+ patients in India to deal with. The ever-increasing number of patients, all the while trying to save so many others, distracts me from my motivation and grit.
Most of our hospitals are running out of PPE masks; the struggle for us to survive and treat patients at the same time, is real. Once we wear our protective gear we aren’t allowed to use the washroom or drink water either. Just to avoid bladder aching, I have been using adult diapers during my shifts. It gets irritating and suffocating but that’s how we have to manage at the moment.
On top of this when I get to know about my colleagues or support staff falling sick and getting infected, it sends chills down my spine. It is not just a distraction but a reality that hits very hard but there is no time to process the emotions and what we are actually feeling because the number of patients is always on the rise. It takes a lot of energy and at the end of the day, I feel like I am exhausted with so much anxiety, tiredness and so many incomplete emotions.
I am glad that our hospital is focusing a lot on our mental health and well-being. While talking to the therapist I realised that most of the things I needed to do to not get distracted from my motive were simple tricks.
1. Stay away from excessive consumption of NEWS, unverified forwards: The more you listen or keep a tab on the NEWS, the more you are prone and vulnerable to being affected and distracted by it. It will only make you question your efforts and demotivate you at every moment.
2. Take out time for acknowledging: Be it just for 10-15 minutes relaxation and processing all the events and experiences you’ve had through the day is important. Take your time to acknowledge the emotions and feelings you are going through. It is really important to understand your state in order to act on it.
3. Appreciation: Everyone around you is busy running around and trying to save lives while simultaneously fighting emotions and personal problems. During such circumstances, a slight tap on the back or passing an understanding smile to a harried person is all the other person needs to kick through. I’ve made it a policy to follow such compassionate actions with colleagues and my team to keep them motivated through tough times.
4. Prioritise your mental health to be able to serve better: If you feel everything is getting too overwhelming for you to process or you don’t know how to handle your anxiety, sadness, the ceaseless pressure and grief, try and get professional help. Remember that with a strained mental health, your chances of being able to help out the patients to their and your satisfaction get minimized.
Trust me, I have been there and it is a really negative place to be, at least when we are the frontline workers during the crisis.