IN A POST-COVID-19 WORLD, MANAGING STRESS AS A HEALTH CAREGIVER OR FIRST RESPONDER
One significant element that people overlook while interacting with caregivers or first responders is that they are expected to be perfect and calculated at all times. To be entirely ready for work or to report to a duty post, a caregiver covers all of his or her fears, tears, and sad thoughts behind a smile. As time passes, the individual will develop a natural sense of resentment. “Stress” refers to events that occur that are not consistent with an individual’s work pattern, but which make work uncomfortable for the individual and may cause them to quit.
What is stress, in its simplest form?
“Okay, Slow down. I know the next question is, “How is this even possible?” Well, I am going to talk about the different kinds of stress in this post and, if possible, mention ways to manage them. First, let me explain, in the simplest of terms, what stress is.
Stress is a situation where your body system works at an unusually high rate because your brain has sent a message that warrants anxiety from your body system. A situation where your adrenal gland pumps more hormones just because an SOS (nerve and hormone signal) was sent by the brain earlier is stress. As a result, the brain dispatches adrenaline and cortisol to your body. So, in simple terms, stress is the way your body responds to change or anything that requires action or attention.
Cortisol is a stress hormone that helps the brain use glucose more quickly and raises the quantity of glucose in the bloodstream. You may feel energetic and pumped up to complete a task by a deadline or especially aware of your surroundings as a result of these actions taking place in your body. Cortisol has a variety of functions, including assisting in the restraint of non-essential functions in the body system in a life-threatening situation, altering the immune system’s response, affecting parts of the brain that control mood, fear, and motivation, and dampening the growth process and reproductive system.
Adrenaline is a stress hormone that helps your muscles consume glucose by increasing your heartbeat, and breathing rate, simulating perspiration, inhibiting insulin production, and contracting blood vessels to send blood to your muscles.
IN THE LONG RUN, DO THESE PROCESSES HAVE LIFE-THREATENING CONSEQUENCES?
It may be of interest to you to know that if this issue is not controlled properly, it might jeopardize one’s life and hinder one from living the best life or working in the best conditions.
Allow me to elaborate. Cortisol and adrenaline appear to react to signals from the brain, allowing the body to adjust to stress or discomfort. We can look at cases of elevated cortisol levels that don’t go away. This can cause harm to your biological system and make you sick. However, if one is unable to detect and manage stress, these processes might continue, leading to the critical stage of stress. CHRONIC STRESS is the term for this type of stress.
DIFFERENT STRESS PATTERNS AND TYPES
It’s crucial to understand that there are several sorts of stress. However, I will identify three primary types and expound on them to give you a sense of the many types of stress and how they differ.
The following are examples of the various types:
1. Acute stress
2. Episodic acute stress
3. Eustress
4. Chronic stress
ACUTE STRESS
Acute stress is one of the most common types of stress that people face on a daily basis. It can be both pleasant and exhausting at times, lasts only a brief period, and can occur at any time during one’s thrilling moment. Take, for example, if you narrowly avoid being hit by a fast-moving car; the feelings you experience during this episode are known as acute stress.
EPISODIC ACUTE STRESS
Acute stress occurs multiple times in a person’s life and establishes a pattern of behavior. One who is constantly anxious, resulting in a consistent pattern of distress and anxiety. This is highly frequent among first responders and can have a detrimental impact on an individual’s physical and mental health.
EUSTRESS
This form of stress can be advantageous and beneficial to an individual. This form of stress can help people stay in shape, energized, and fit.
CHRONIC STRESS
This is referred to as long-term stress. It is usually hazardous to an individual if not adequately controlled, because one may have to live in an atmosphere that generates such stress for an extended period of time. This form of stress can be found in situations such as a toxic marriage/relationship, demanding employment, and so on. This is prolonged high stress that may appear inevitable or never-ending and can be harmful to one’s health.
The main goal of this essay is to examine this form of stress critically, how it affects caregivers and first responders, and how it might be addressed.
CAREGIVERS AND FIRST RESPONDERS
Caregivers are people who provide services in the form of assistance to others who require it. These services/assistance can be provided to children, adults, or senior citizens, particularly those who are unable to care for themselves due to an accident or condition. Individuals with special needs are cared for by these individuals at home, in hospitals, or in facilities designed for them. A caregiver may be paid formally for services given, or unpaid care may be provided by friends or family members. These people, particularly the formal caregivers, frequently live in the homes or institutions of persons they care for. These persons, especially the formal caregivers, frequently live in the homes or facilities of those they provide care for. This leaves caregivers with little or no time for their personal lives or family members; also, they may be unable to examine their lives in order to determine how they are progressing in life. A caregiver is a companion, occasionally a cook, a personal assistant, and many other things to his or her client throughout the duration of the contract.
A first responder according to Wikipedia, “is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, natural disaster, or terrorism. First responders typically include law enforcement officers, paramedics, EMT’s and firefighters. In some areas, emergency department personnel are also required to respond to disasters and critical situations, designating them first responders.” This means that a first responder is a solution expert or one who brings solution or calm at first to situations that need urgent or emergencies. These individuals have been described several times as super-heroes and they tend to live up to their names.
Are caregivers and first responders then not permitted to be stressed at work or while they dispatch their line of duty? The answer is NO.
Caregivers and first responders may also go through stressful times at work. Considering that one may feel overworked, combining the heavy load of giving care and the work at home. Many of these individuals are mothers who may not have time to relax while performing their duties.
CAREGIVERS AND FIRST RESPONDERS IN POST A COVID-19 WORLD
During the global covid-19 pandemic, more than 2900 healthcare workers were lost in the frontline, according to Kaiser Health News. This number of fatalities recorded is enough to discourage anyone from giving their best at work. The thought that one may die in the line of duty alone can cause anxiety, the feeling that you do not have things in control may lead to stress. In this case, if not identified early, and managed, may lead to chronic stress, which is very dangerous to one’s health. This is one of the many reasons healthcare workers, including caregivers and first responders, maybe stressed at work and not know it.
It takes one to identify stress in a particular place of work, accept that the symptoms are accurate, and be ready to work on that situation to endure that it is managed. Unfortunately, a lot of caregivers do not think they need help to manage stress, because they believe they have everything under control. You may be caring for others and ignore yourself totally, which is detrimental to you and to those you render your services as a caregiver to.
Naturally, professionals are faced with stress due to their work environment, which may not be conducive to them. Being stressed at work is not only bad for the individual but the organization as well, because a stressed employer might not be hundred percent productive. When one is not working at maximum capacity because of situations that can be corrected or avoided, then it is doing more for less.
Stress arises as a result of the overburden on the brain, from work issues, unresolved matters at home, and so on. This then may lead to anxiety, which is a feeling of fear, worry, or unease.
