Comstock's magazine 0620 - June June 2020 | Page 35

across the country, and he was in talks
with hospitals, school districts and
other groups.
Only a week after California’s stayat-home
order, Black says he was already
seeing a big uptick in business. “We’re
seeing increased demand across vertical
markets, from medicine to high tech,
as everyone is experiencing extremely
heightened levels of stress now.” He
says the app is especially beneficial for
professions with a cultural barrier to
admitting a problem and seeking help.
This mentality can be found in the
medical profession, says Yellowlees of
UC Davis Health. “Doctors in particular
are trained to ignore their own
needs in the face of exposure to repeat
traumas that occur in the health workplace
and to just get on and see the
next person, with no time for reflection
or working through the process
of trauma and grief,” he says. “This
can lead in many to a great reluctance
to seek help and a feeling of shame at
‘failing’ to manage and cope with their
emotional reactions.”
Because UC Davis Medical Center
was the site of an early case of
COVID-19 (although subsequent
reports confirm the coronavirus was
spreading in the U.S. weeks before), the
hospital’s leadership immediately took
steps to prepare for a surge in patients,
says Angela Drake, a psychiatry professor
involved in efforts to support staff
wellness. UC Davis Health CEO David
Lubarsky also launched a new communication
plan for medical staff, which
includes frequent updates from leadership
and weekly virtual town halls.
“It has been well-documented that
front-line providers are experiencing
high levels of physical and psychological
stress related to working directly
with patients with a new and highly
infectious virus for extended periods
of time,” Drake says, pointing to a
survey of 1,257 nurses and doctors in
China during the coronavirus epidemic
there that found a “considerable
proportion” reported symptoms
of depression, anxiety, insomnia and
distress as a result of working directly
with patients with COVID-19.
In places such as New York City — a
coronavirus epicenter with 193,000 confirmed
cases compared to 1,237 cases
in Sacramento County as of mid-May
— health care workers have had it very
bad, according to a story in The New
York Times. Whether it’s the nonstop
onslaught of sick patients, anxiety over
dwindling supplies of personal protective
equipment, or the pain of watching
colleagues sickened or die from the
disease, the stress and trauma have
reached new heights. In late April, an
emergency room doctor in Manhattan
who treated coronavirus patients died
by suicide, according to another Times
story. Also around that time, an emergency
medical technician in New York
died by suicide after only three months
on the job, according to a news report.
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June 2020 | comstocksmag.com 35