As the COVID-19 situation evolves, so does our perception of it – and one psychiatrist’s discernment is that the “rampant COVID marginalisation” of people who have tested positive to the virus, or those who are working closely with such patients, needs immediate addressing.
His statement comes just one day after Prof. Charmaine Gauci appealed against the stigmatisation of patients during her daily COVID-19 updates to the Maltese population.
Dr Mark Xuereb, Visiting Lecturer at the UM’s Department of Psychiatry, and part of the Crisis Resolution Malta team, told Newspoint that in his role as a psychiatrist, together with his colleagues, he is doing all he can to reign in the “psychological persecution” of such individuals, and avoid it from instilling “a further sense of isolation and ostracism” in their psyche.
He referred to a document recently issued by the World Health Organisation, titled ‘Mental health and psycho-social considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak’. The document calls for healthcare workers to “take care of yourself at this time … use strategies that have worked for you in the past to manage times of stress now … you should not be hesitant in keeping yourself psychologically well … this is not a sprint; it’s a marathon”.
“Rather than passing judgement on these people and ostracising them out of the stoked fears due to our limited knowledge of how to deal with a crisis, we should grab the bull by its horns and make sense of the situation, respecting the fact that they are only trying to help”, he said.
He differentiated between two sets of individuals who he feels are currently being stigmatised. There are those who are psychologically healthy but are faced with sweeping statements and encountering swift judgements from strangers, and others who are predisposed to certain psychological issues and are further pressured by their current front-line roles.
“Whilst a lot of emphasis is rightly so being made about physical guidelines to stay indoors, wash our hands thoroughly, and socially distance ourselves from others whenever possible, there are another set of guidelines we should be following – those that advise us to inform ourselves well enough to not be directly responsible for instilling more psychological fear”.
Dr Xuereb referred to another of his concerns, what he called an obsessional neurosis, or an almost slave-like behaviour of constantly checking media to get the latest information about COVID-19. He advises that while it is very important to be informed, the reliability of the sources always need to be factored in when making sense of the overwhelming information being made available to us.
“Let us not add to the psychological challenge faced by everyone at different rates and frequencies but faced by everyone nonetheless – and continue with our lives – taking this as a learning opportunity to enrich our lives and not be the tipping point for others”, Dr Xuereb concluded.
Crisis Resolution Malta offers free 24/7 private, professional advice to whoever might need psychological assistance. They can be reached via their Facebook Page, via phone on 9933 9966, or via email.