Subjective mental deterioration of healthcare workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. / Subiektywne pogorszenie stanu psychicznego pracowników sektora opieki medycznej w czasie pierwszej fali pandemii COVID-19 w Polsce.

OBJECTIVES: The presented study is aimed at determining the subjective psychological reaction to the outbreak of pandemic in healthcare workers and is part of a wider research project covering successive waves of increasing number of SARS-CoV-2 infections during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. METHODS: 664 respondents completed the anonymous online questionnaire in the period from March 12, 2020 to May 3, 2020. This is the period of the first lockdown in Poland. Data were collected using the snowball method (employees passed the questionnaire over the Internet to subsequent groups of employees in subsequent healthcare units). RESULTS: The outbreak of pandemic had varying impact on the well-being of 96.7% of respondents. Subjectively perceived stress of varying intensity was reported by 97.3% of them, low mood was reported in 19.0%, and anxiety in 14.1% of the respondents. These results and other features of the psychological reaction (including sleep problems) to overload in healthcare workers may indicate mental deterioration in the first weeks of pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in the study group may encourage further analyzes of healthcare workers' mental state and contribute to discussion on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Polish Experiences of Safety Measures Involving Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients Implemented During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has made it necessary for us to adapt our healthcare systems to a very different sort of reality. This clearly also applies to psychiatric services. The restrictions and safeguards associated with the pandemic particularly concern adherence to social distancing and medical treatment safety procedures. The implementation of these procedures is generally complicated by conditions of forensic psychiatry where, in line with demands made by courts, the treatment and isolation of mentally unwell offenders must be carefully managed. In most countries, forensic psychiatric treatment is an inpatient service where patients are kept in restricted and cramped spaces, making social distancing difficult to implement as patients participate in compulsory group therapeutic activities. As a result, it is necessary to introduce unique recommendations relating to patient safety and treatment adapted to the realities of forensic psychiatry. All this requires the implementation of additional restrictions, over and above those arising from the essential aspects of forensic psychiatry. In this paper, we present and discuss the Polish guidelines for forensic psychiatric care during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, developed as a result of discussions on essential measures introduced to reduce the spread of the virus and the unique needs of the forensic patient population.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. / Wplyw pandemii COVID-19 na zdrowie psychiczne.

Human confrontation with such a stressor as the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus, manifested in severe acute respiratory distress, results also in the decrease of fitness and mental resistance on an unprecedented scale and with difficult to estimate consequences [1]. More important than the intensity of the disorder is its prevalence. When we compare our current knowledge of the impact of the pandemic on the development of mental disorders with the findings of research on acute stress disorder (ASD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over the last 40 years, it may turn out that they are different from each other, the symptomatic spectrum of mental disorders varies and the possibilities of an effective treatment are very limited. We cannot rule out that a new diagnostic category for specific mental disorders resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic may emerge in the near future. This paper presents the extent of the impact of the pandemic on the development of mental instability and current diagnostic possibilities. Subpopulations necessary for planning short-term intervention in the organisational, informative and medical areas were identified. A psychiatric guide for immediate support and assistance was proposed.