Managing a COVID-Positive Health-Care Worker with Recent Suicide Attempt through Telepsychiatry

COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a major problem for the health-care workers (HCWs). Many HCWs are facing adverse psychological outcomes, during the COVID pandemic. HCWs are not only expected to carry out duties in COVID areas but are also expected to stay in isolation during the period of quarantine. Various models have been proposed to address the psychological issues in HCWs using telepsychiatry. However, there are no clear-cut guidelines, for managing people with suicidal behavior. In this report we present a HCW, diagnosed with recurrent depressive disorder, current episode severe depression without psychotic symptoms, who attempted self-harm and was shortly diagnosed with COVID-19 infection leading her to getting admitted in the COVID-19 ward. She was managed with supportive psychotherapy during her COVID ward stay through telepsychiatry. We discuss the challenges faced and how these were handled.

Automated summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the mental health of healthcare workers, and telepsychiatry has played an important role in addressing this issue. However, there is a lack of clear guidelines for managing healthcare workers with suicidal behavior.