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St John of God Hospital in Dublin has said that half of all admissions in the past month were related to Covid-19.
In a statement, he said there has been an increase in admissions for new and existing patients struggling with mood and anxiety disorders, addictions, and problems related to severe social isolation.
Health workers have also been admitted to the hospital due to acute work-related stress.
St. John of God Hospital in Stillorgan is an independent acute psychiatric teaching center.
Speaking on RTÉ News at One, the hospital’s chief psychologist, Dr. Fergal Rooney, said: “Unfortunately, we are currently a nation under heavy pressure.”
He said this includes people whose relationships have become strained, people who have developed a real and intense fear of getting sick, those who are affected by separation from loved ones, and those who are struggling to adapt to a new way of lifetime.
Dr. Rooney said the reality of Covid-19 is putting additional pressure and burdens on people, some of whom have previously worked and others who have long struggled with mental health issues and now present themselves in a state of mind. , anxiety and addiction. issues.
However, he said the hospital is seeing “a whole new cohort of people showing up for the first time … whose threshold for coping or resistance has been pushed into that territory where they require specialized intervention and people who simply have not been able to meet and adapt to the demands they face in very, very changed and difficult circumstances. “
He said that the health workers who came to the service “really struggled to cope with the demands they are experiencing and that they may have some pre-existing vulnerability in their mental health that was exacerbated by this situation.”
The hospital welcomed a call from the Mental Health Reform to the Government to begin planning for an anticipated increase in demand for mental health services in response to the critical challenges presented by the Covid-19 emergency.
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