Frontliners urged to care for selves, too

MANILA, Philippines — Front-liners like policemen, soldiers, local officials and health workers are encouraged to take mental health breaks and undergo psychological counseling as they could be facing problems which, if left untreated, may lead to more serious issues after the lockdown.

“Our frontliners call us up saying they are overwhelmed by the demands of the current situation because there are so many to respond to,” said clinical psychologist Dr. Joanna Herrera, executive director and cofounder of Circle of Hope Community Services Inc.

“They feel guilty about stopping. They feel they can’t stop. They have to keep working because there are so many in need, but then they are also feeling depleted … So we are addressing the guilt of what it means to stop,” she said.

But many do not realize that they do have to stop and they allow themselves to burn out which becomes a bigger problem sooner or later.

Last April 16 in Taguig City, for instance, 29-year-old Police Cpl. Bryan Jorkis Quinagoran shot dead Police Executive Master Sgt. Edwin San Joaquin, who was tasked to watch over Quinagoran after he began showing symptoms of mental disorder and wanted to see his wife who had just given birth in the province.

But Taguig City Police Col. Celso Rodriguez said Quinagoran was placed under quarantine until April 17, the day after the fatal shooting.

While there may be other underlying factors in Quinagoran’s case, Herrera said such a dilemma is common to many front-liners who have had no contact with their families.

Herrera and some of her colleagues formed Circle of Hope to provide mental health services for underserved and marginalized sectors. But since the start of the quarantine in March, even physicians and ranking government officials have called up the Circle of Hope’s free telephone counseling program.

Called “Health Compassion Break (Loob-Kalinga),” front-liners can confer with any of their seven clinicians in a 30-minute session, but they can call back for further counseling, she said. Seven more volunteer psychologists are ready to accommodate more callers.

Breathing space

“The moment we slip into isolation, it puts up walls, and that’s a door to feeling hopeless and helpless. Compassion means we are together, we don’t have to get stuck with suffering. Compassion is empowering and it’s directed toward alleviation of difficulty,” she said.

“The [pandemic] is not something that will stop soon. It’s not a disaster that stops in a few weeks. We are looking at an ongoing scenario so they are asking how to sustain themselves and some of them just need breathing space,” Herrera said.

She said some of the telltale signs of burnout include “feelings of not being your normal self,” inability to sleep because of too many thoughts, loss of control in emotions and anger, terror and panic attacks, excessive guilt, shame, feeling of doing a lot but remaining helpless and inadequate, or blaming people like coworkers for the helpless you are feeling.”

“Any superficial strength will break at some point so real strength comes from acknowledging that we have our needs and we can be vulnerable,” Herrera said, adding that institutions should also develop similar programs, like call or connection breaks, just so their staff can have breathing space or call for help.

Call the Loob-Kalinga hotline at 0908-8915850. For emergency situations, dial 0917-8998727.

The Christ’s Commission Fellowship in Pasig City also offers free online counseling service to anyone needing encouragement. Sign up at bit.ly/ccfonlinecounseling or chat through this link: m.me/CCFmain.