The emotional toll COVID-19 is having on Montrealers is being felt in the emergency room of the Montreal General Hospital, which is part of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).
A clinical psychiatrist at the MUHC says there is an uptick in the number of people being admitted due to mental health issues, including loneliness and psychosis.
And due to a high volume of COVID-19 patients being admitted, Dr. Karine Igartua’s normal ward has been taken over requiring her to work in different locations.
“I’m going between a makeshift psych ward on the 14th floor and the emergency room. So that’s just an example of how my life has changed,” she told Global News.
In an announcement made on Wednesday, the government is promising to spend an additional $31 million to deal with mental health issues.
And a late April survey conducted by Mental Health Research Canada reveals 43 per cent of front line workers are reporting high levels of anxiety.
Not surprising according to the nurses’s union of the West Island public health board.
“The stress level is so high it’s not fixable unless we get more personnel,” union spokesperson Elizabeth Rich told Global News.
For now, many people will have to do their best to manage their stress levels while the deadly disease continues to spread.