MHM Magazine

Introduction Doctors are often referred to as healers of society and shoulder the responsibility of caring for the health of others. However, the demanding nature of their work can take a toll on their mental wellbeing. They tend to have an understanding of patients but overlook their own mental healthcare challenges as healthcare professionals and how they cope with that. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the challenges of coping and working in different settings whilst experiencing their own difficulties. Although the pandemic is not as urgent as it once was, there is somewhat of a hangover in significantly adjusting to mental health. Healer, Heal Thyself Healing ourselves does not mean treating ourselves but opening up and obtaining the necessary care and concern from others in the healthcare network. It is well known that healthcare workers tend to not seek assistance and healthcare services when they could and should, specifically within the mental healthcare context. Mental health, however, does not care about our profession or status, affecting everybody alike. Stigma Healthcare providers suffer the same stigma as those in communities but are said to suffer a second layer of stigma, especially as they are seen as superheroes. This was especially prevalent during Covid-19, with many media images circulating with healthcare professionals wearing superhero capes. Although healthcare professionals don’t wear capes, many wear a mask to make themselves seem intact enough to continue with the demands of the job. The faces of medics in warzones echo this, with the desperate need and demand to carry on working in the face of exhaustion and trauma. Dealing with stigma involves understanding it. Stigma is a negative perception of someone with a mental illness, defining the individual by the illness rather than by their personhood. It is socially constructed and reinforced through media, social media, and organisational structures. Sympathy for healthcare providers who struggle with their mental health is not easily found within these spaces. There are many misconceptions of healthcare workers and mental healthcare professionals as wearing a hero’s cape, someone who could not possibly “succumb” to these stressors or illnesses. When acted upon, stigma leads to discrimination against others, or in self-destructive behaviours within the individual. There are three basic forms of stigma: 1.Public stigma, which is negative or discriminatory attitudes that others have about mental illness and is often reflected in the language used by healthcare professionals, with 44% of patients being stigmatised by their treating doctors. 2.Self-stigma is the negative attitudes, including internalised shame that people with mental illnesses have about their own condition, including negative self-talk about being weak or incapable of performing their duties. 3.Institutional stigma involves the Based on the webinar Healer, Heal Thyself Neil Amoore Clinical Psychologist MENTAL HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS 20 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 2023 | Issue 5 MHM