While Italy continues to battle the most devastating outbreak of the Chinese communist virus in all of Europe, one Italian doctor has spoken out about the psychological toll of working on the front lines of intensive caregiving.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, 37-year-old doctor Federica Pezzetti, who works at Cremona Hospital in Italy’s hardest-hit region of Lombardy, revealed that the isolation is sometimes too much to bear. “We medical mothers can no longer embrace our children,” Pezzetti explained. “Many of us are starting to give in; now we need the psychologist.”
“At home I eat alone, sleep alone,” the doctor continued. “I told my child the truth, but sometimes I give in and cry, without letting myself be seen. It is a moment, then I pick myself up again.”
Pezzetti explained that since the influx of new virus patients became “so difficult and relentless,” she and other doctors and nurses from the same hospital have had to step up their precautionary measures. As of March 16, 2020, it has been two weeks since Pezzetti held her son in her arms or slept in the same bed as her husband.
“It has happened that I finish at 3:30 in the morning, go home to sleep, and then return to the hospital at 8:00,” Pezzetti explained, as per La Repubblica. “There are doctors who have moved their family to their in-laws to avoid the risk of infection; there is a neurosurgeon who has not seen his children for three weeks. Everything has changed.”
As per Statista, the region of Lombardy has seen the highest number of deaths from the Chinese communist virus in all of Italy. As of March 18, the region reported 1,959 total deaths compared to 458 in the next hardest-hit region, Emilia-Romagna.
The total number of cases reported in the country as a whole, since the virus first broke out, is almost 36,000.
While admitting that the “adrenaline, anger, and tears,” are occasionally overwhelming, Pezzetti also recognized a tremendous camaraderie among the overworked medical personnel of Cremona Hospital. “[I]t is also true that the entire hospital, I speak for Cremona, has brought out an unprecedented solidarity,” the doctor explained.
“[E]veryone does everything,” she added, “we all help each other, hierarchical roles no longer exist.” However, the presence of occupational psychologists on site, Pezzetti reflected, is becoming increasingly imperative.
The CDC advises that coping with stress during times of crisis will strengthen communities and help people to sustain their energy and efforts in fighting disease.
It is important for first responders in particular to implement measures to reduce “secondary traumatic stress (STS)” reactions, says the CDC. Methods for doing this may include making time for personal self-care, taking breaks from media coverage of the outbreak, and asking for help when the stress becomes too much to bear.
For now, Pezzetti says she plans to continue social distancing wherever possible and kisses her son “in her thoughts.”
In describing the human side of the experience of medical personnel working on the front lines of intensive care, Pezzetti hopes to convince people to take cautionary measures seriously: hand-washing, social distancing, and self-care. The knock-on effects of cautionary measures may impact the entire community.
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