A few weeks ago, Lesley Dickson, a psychiatrist in Las Vegas, says she started feeling concerned for the hospital workers treating COVID-19 patients.
"You're taking care of a lot of people," Dickson says. "You don't feel like you can handle the workload. You're afraid that if you get too overburdened you're going to make a mistake. And then there's loss. There's a lot of patients dying."Through the Nevada Psychiatric Association, Dickson helped launch Curbside Nevada, a support line staffed by volunteer psychiatrists who can help clinicians and first responders deal with anxiety, stress, grief and worry.
"They call in and talk about the stresses they're experiencing, and how they're feeling emotionally and how they're coping," Dickson says.
Dickson says she expects the need for mental health services to increase the longer the COVID-19 crisis wears on.
There are nationwide crisis helplines for front-line workers dealing with COVID-19, but Dickson says she wanted Nevada doctors and nurses to be able to speak to someone locally.
Call the Curbside Nevada Support Line at 877-493-0007, option 2.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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