Coping with Loss at Work
As we slowly emerge from the restrictions of COVID, it is important to look at the total impact both the virus and the lock down have had on employees and their families.
COVID was the great unknown and in many ways, still remains a mystery. Fear and uncertainty were what people initially felt. As those in authority tried to uncover what COVID was, social media became awash with information, some of which was accurate and some that was inaccurate. This caused fear, uncertainty and for some, denial and inertia.
But on an individual basis, how did this impact your staff?
Fear about losing their jobs was probably their biggest concern. Tied to their jobs was everything else in their lives – their homes, food, utilities, entertainment, identity and futures. Internet connectivity is taken as a given in large urban centres but as you move out from the core, internet access and reliability starts to become a challenge creating more uncertainty and inequity for people.
Add to that the restriction on movement and people started thinking about relocating to greener pastures. The number of people who moved back home or in with their parents is unknown but it probably wasn’t what your staff expected to be doing at this point in their lives, so now they have lost their independence. And not all family dynamics are amicable. This may have resulted in stress, anger and a feeling of being trapped.
Other employees may have decided to move their families out of their community to places with more room, perhaps a yard or simply more green space.
The impact on the family may have been great. Fear being the overarching one – what was the future going to be like? What would happen to the children and their schooling? Could they work effectively from home?
And finally – the vaccination challenge. Families were impacted by those who did and those who didn’t get vaccinated. Belief and trust was destroyed as people saw a side of friends and family they could never have predicted.
The National Institute of Health
The study, carried out with a sample of 1612 subjects distributed in seven countries (Australia, China, Ecuador, Iran, Italy, Norway and the United States), allowed us to collect information about the psychological impact of COVID-19.
Results
The findings of this study show that the levels of stress, depression and anxiety, as well as the risks of PTSD, are higher than average in over half of the considered sample. The severity of these disorders significantly depends on gender, type of outdoor activities, characteristics of their homes, eventual presence of infected acquaintances, time dedicated to looking for related information (in the news and social networks), type of source information and, in part, to the level of education and income.
Conclusions
We conclude that COVID-19 has a very strong psychological impact on the global population. This appears to be linked to the coping strategies adopted, level of mindful awareness, socio-demographic variables, people’s habits and the way individuals use means of communication and information.”