K. Luan Phan, MD, professor and chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral health at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, talks about anxieties and pressures surrounding returning to the workplace in times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I wanted to start by asking you with COVID a lot of folks have been working from home and out of their normal routines. Now, not only in Ohio but in other states, we’re starting to open back up and people are starting to go back to work. What are some of the mental health effects of having that disruption and then all of a sudden trying to go back to normal? Can you talk to me a little bit about that?
Dr. Phan: I think that there is a myriad of emotions that people are experiencing as they contemplate and transition back to the workplace and as they transition back out to social gatherings. It starts with an ongoing concern, worry and apprehension that there’s a risk of infection still out there. And in many areas, including our own state, those infection and those cases continue to rise. And so, it’s not an unfounded worry. I think the other emotion that people have is this need to shift. They’ve been used to these last few months to a routine at home. As stressful as it may have been, they’ve been able to adapt, flexibly change their schedules, work with their children and their spouses and their other family members to craft sort of a work at home strategy that’s worked for them. Now they’ve got to re-shift again. And it’s not going back to the normal workplace. It’s going back to a modified workplace. So, they have to anticipate changes to the workplace that isn’t there before. So that creates sort of a sense of angst. I think another emotion that people have is stress and guilt. They have been taking care of their kids. They’ve been home schooling their kids. They’ve sort of felt that they’ve kept their home quite safe, creating a healthy environment. But now if they have to transition back to work but if daycare aren’t open or it’s only open partially or if schools and camps for the summer aren’t open fully, they’ve got to adjust to that as well. And now instead of worrying about them getting infected going back to the workplace, they have this added worry that their children are now re-entering another environment that could be unsafe for their children. So, it’s a myriad of emotions ranging from ongoing concern and fear, feeling uncertain about the future but also some guilt and some stress associated with the changes.
So, when we’re going back it’s not like just throwing the light switch back on, is it?
Dr. Phan: No. It’s not throwing a light switch back on. For many of us who have been coming to work, the work environment is quite different. For every place there’s an entry point to check your temperature to ask about your physical symptoms and ask about whether you’ve exposed yourself to anyone with COVID-19. And then there’s the physical distancing that we have in place where people are sitting at least six feet apart everywhere. Everyone is wearing a mask. And the opportunities to convene and gather don’t exist anymore in the workplace. And certainly, the typical things that you’d have to show support with one another, a good firm handshake, a hug, a high five, those things aren’t possible anymore.
I was just going to ask you. At some of the conventions, for example, you and I did not greet each other in a way that I normally would. Some of those conventions are going by the wayside. And it might sound like a strange question, but will that have an impact on us mentally when you don’t have that physical connection with someone that you’re used to, that’s tradition?
Dr. Phan: Absolutely. We communicate with each other in so many different ways besides just talking to one another. Certainly, that’s the most important and probably a fundamental thing. But we shake hands, we give hugs, we give high fives. And ultimately with a face mask on, we can’t express our emotions in a way that we typically would. And then even if we did, behind a mask the person can’t receive. And so, it’s very hard to read emotions straight from the eyes. We need all the signals as possible in our face. And so, we lose that ability to show each other our emotions and our communication through facial expressions.
So, do you have any suggestions for people going back into the workplace in ways that they can communicate with their colleagues when they’re in meetings and passing in the hall?
Dr. Phan: I think it is just going to be different. But you got to work really, really hard at reconnecting and reconnecting in a way that is more creative. Maybe finding ways to meet one-on-one and talk is enough. Finding ways to communicate with your eyes, finding ways to talk with hand gestures and express that way rather than just through our facial expressions. I think those are possible ways. I think that ultimately the most important thing as we go back to the workplace is to support one another, to validate each other about this myriad of emotions that everyone is feeling. There’s a lot of individual differences in how we respond to threat and how we respond to stress. So, individuals differ quite a bit. And the more we understand, validate each other, I think the better off we’ll be because ultimately it’s about showing caring and having a culture of safety and of support of one another. We’ve been doing it for three months-plus at home. So, we’ve had this culture of caring and of safety for our family and those that are within our household. Now we need to extend that into our workplace because after all our co-workers or colleagues are a part of our extended family. So, we need to sort of just extend that circle a little bit wider. And I think besides supporting each other, knowing what we do for each other in terms of keeping safe is really important. So, in other words, here we wear badges that have a sticker on it that says that we’ve had our temperature check. And we do that every day. We’re wearing a mask. We’re distancing from one another. All of those are signals that I care about you and I worry about our ability to infect each other. And I’m taking great precautions to prevent that from happening. If you do the same thing, then you’re protecting me as well. So we sort of have a communal joint collective effort at staying safe.
You had mentioned a couple of things, in fact, a laundry list of things that people are doing in the workplace to make others feel more comfortable. Could you just run down in a laundry list of ways that maybe things employers need to think about that will help their employees feel more secure coming back to work?
Dr. Phan: I think as employers, as team leaders, it’s important to really prepare people to re-enter the workplace. I think preparation is half, if not more than half of the battle because if people don’t feel prepared, the anxieties, the apprehension, the worries will continue to mount. So, it’s about clear, consistent, truthful, factual conveying of information even before the person returns to work. What is the plan? What is the workplace going to look like? How do you visually, cognitively, behaviorally prepare for your new environment? What are to dos? What are to not dos? Dos and don’ts are really a great list for employers to share with their employees about what to expect when they return. I think some preparation in terms of information rather than misinformation is really important because one of the worries that people have now is they get ambiguous and confusing messages from different sources. And so, it’s really important that my employer, my boss, is really looking out for me. I think the other important element is to structurally have things in place to help people feel a sense of safety and health in their environment. Is there a place where someone can check in about their temperature in the morning if they didn’t take it at home? Is there a place if they forgot their face mask to get an extra face mask? Is there going to be a checkpoint to ask about symptoms? What’s going to happen when a fellow employee or a colleague comes down with symptoms and or COVID? What’s the strategy? How do we keep each other safe? How do we react in a calm but also in a real responsible manner? What are the physical space going to look like? How do we physically distance from one another at least six feet? Will there be markings? How will chairs be rearranged? How will desks and cubicles be arranged? How will we hold team meetings? Will we be allowed large meetings? And to what size? What rooms do we meet in? So, all of these structural things need to be planned out. And the more they’re planned out, the more that they’re signage and physical signals of keeping everyone safe. As an employer reenters that workplace, they’re going to look around and they say, oh, my boss, my employer prepared for this. They knew what was – what my concerns were. And they took steps to alleviate my concern. And then lastly because people have different kinds of emotions and worries, it’s important to have a safe space so that employees can voice their concerns, that there is an opportunity, a venue, for employees to speak up especially if they’re concerned. And there might need to be some accommodations for certain employees given special circumstances because an employee who’s overly anxious, who’s apprehensive, is not going to be performing well at work anyways. And so there needs to be structures in place to help that employee as well.
Would you say it’s normal to have a little bit of anxiety going back?
Dr. Phan: It’s absolutely normal to have a little anxiety, some anxiety, going back. I think it’s important to acknowledge it’s OK to feel not OK. So absolutely.
At one point does it go beyond? At what point do people need to have that checkpoint where maybe I’m a little more anxious than I anticipated, or maybe I need a little help or maybe I need to talk to someone or talk to my boss about a situation? You know, is it a matter of days or is it a matter of degrees for some people?
Dr. Phan: I think that anxiety is going to be there. I think when people think about warning signals or things that should trigger them, that their anxiety is becoming problematic, you can sort of ask a few things. Is the anxiety chronic? In other words, it’s going on day after day after day. Is the anxiety pervasive? So, it doesn’t just last for a few minutes, it lasts several hours, all day long. Is the anxiety difficult to control? Are there things that I’m trying to reduce my anxiety, but I can’t seem to have the coping mechanisms to alleviate and reduce my anxiety? And then lastly, is the anxiety interfering with my ability to work? Is it distracting? Is it making it difficult to stay on task? Is it difficult to connect with other people? Do I feel isolated, alone, and therefore I can’t perform my job like I typically would or should because of my anxiety? So those are four really fundamental questions that you can ask. You know, if the answer is yes, yes, yes and or yes, you should go seek, you know, some mental health attention to see if there’s a need for treatment.
You had mentioned that employers should have that list of dos and a list of don’ts. In your mind, could you give me three or four do’s and three or four don’ts?
Dr. Phan: Do take care of yourselves and of each other. Do practice good hand hygiene. Do wear a mask. Do physically distance. Do support and listen to one another. And do share your concerns with each other but also with your supervisors and your boss. Don’t judge. Don’t get into someone’s physical space and make them feel uncomfortable. Don’t come to work if you have a temperature and a fever and you’re feeling symptoms of infection. And don’t disobey the guidelines and the precautions that are in place at your workplace.
Interview conducted by Ivanhoe Broadcast News.
END OF INTERVIEW
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