Psychological distress of mental health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A comparison with the general population in high- and low-incidence regions

Objective Despite their essential role during this health crisis, little is known about the psychological distress of mental health workers (MHW). Method A total of 616 MHW and 658 workers from the general population (GP) completed an online survey including depressive, anxiety, irritability, loneliness, and resilience measures. Results Overall, MHW had fewer cases with above cut-off clinically significant depression (19% MHW vs. 27%) or anxiety (16% MHW vs. 29%) than the GP. MHW in high-incidence regions of COVID-19 cases displayed the same levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms than the GP and higher levels compared to MHW from low-incidence regions. MHW in high-incidence regions presented higher levels of irritability and lower levels of resilience than the MHW in low-incidence regions. Moreover, MHW in high-incidence regions reported more feelings of loneliness than all other groups. Conclusion Implications for social and organizational preventive strategies to minimize the distress of MHW in times of crisis are discussed.