Surviving COVID-19 does not end with one being declared negative. According to healthcare workers and those who survived this pandemic, it takes longer for some patients to recover from the psychological effects of the virus.
Some continue to experience mild symptoms, others get depressed, while stigma also makes it worse.
Discussion on the mental health impact of COVID-19:
While some are only talking about it, others have experienced it and the psychological impact is massive.
COVID-19 survivor Gadifele Lofu recounts her ordeal. “My name is Gadifele Rejoice Lofu. I stay in Ventersdorp, in Tshing extension 4. I have two children. I started falling ill on 12 December 2020 while at work. On the 14th of December, I was admitted to ICU. It was not nice because I didn’t understand anything; I was in pain and my situation was deteriorating. My family could not visit me in hospital. It’s more painful that I lost some family members while in ICU.”
Another survivor Tshediso Mashoaliba says the journey has been quite traumatic.
“My name is Tshediso Moshoaliba. I’m 33 years of age. Originally I’m from Welkom in the Free State, but currently residing in Ventersdorp. The journey is quite traumatic. I can’t recall how I was placed on a ventilator. At one stage, I thought I was in Welkom, at one stage, I thought I was in Klerksdorp. The pain was quite severe, I could not even swallow properly. So, the psychological impact is quite unbearable. Even during my journey, currently, I experience depression, anxiety and the stigma that is also attached.”
Affected frontline workers
Frontline staffers are not exempted. Many get infected – the risks that come with the job. Mediclinic Specialist and Physician, Dr Thabo Pilane, says the isolation period came with a lot of stress.
“I have contracted COVID-19, and had to isolate for ten days at home. During the isolation period, I had a lot of thoughts, stress, mental challenges, psychological stress about the diseases; worrying about whether one will make it. The ten days feel like the whole year; every day is quite long. I, for one, had my family members infected. So, I infected my wife and kids at home. Well, by the grace of God, they all survived. We recovered all at home.”
Another Mediclinic Specialist Physician, Dr Sifiso Masuku, says looking after COVID-19 patients has been difficult.
“The impact of having to look after COVID-19 positive patients, very difficult experience for all of us; for myself and my colleagues. Unfortunately, it’s having a negative impact, not only on our resolve to become doctors, and wanting to do best for our patients. Unfortunately, as a father, I question my decisions. I question myself as a human being. I question myself for the choice of profession that I chose because I put my life at risk every single day.”
Psychological support
It is at a time like this that psychological support is of paramount importance. Clinical Psychologist Dr Sammy Thekiso while COVID-19 is an individual-specific condition, it arouses a collective response.
“My personal experience is that since the advance of coronavirus and COVID-19, it has been that, much as coronavirus is an individual specific condition, it, however, also arouses the collective response whereby you find that an individual presents with symptoms such as your anxiety, your panic attack, and your depression. However, you will realise that the situation affects not only an individual but the whole systems surrounding an individual – as the family, as other important sectors of the society, like your work, like your institutions such as school.”
Lofu is still receiving treatment while Moshoaliba is undergoing counselling.
Understanding the impact of COVID-19 trauma:
