The mental health of medical workers in Wuhan, China dealing with the 2019 novel coronavirus
Lijun Kang，Yi Li，Shaohua Hu，Min Chen，Can Yang，Bing Xiang Yang
Published:February 05, 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30047-X
In December, 2019, a novel coronavirus outbreak of pneumonia emerged in Wuhan, Hubei province, China,1 and has subsequently garnered attention around the world.2 In the fight against the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), medical workers in Wuhan have been facing enormous pressure, including a high risk of infection and inadequate protection from contamination, overwork, frustration, discrimination, isolation, patients with negative emotions, a lack of contact with their families, and exhaustion. The severe situation is causing mental health problems such as stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, insomnia, denial, anger, and fear. These mental health problems not only affect the medical workers' attention, understanding, and decision making ability, which might hinder the fight against 2019-nCoV, but could also have a lasting effect on their overall wellbeing. Protecting the mental health of these medical workers is thus important for control of the epidemic and their own long-term health.
