Can Post-Traumatic Growth Protect Healthcare Workers from Suicidal Thoughts During a Pandemic?

What you need to know

• Many healthcare workers experienced post-traumatic growth (positive psychological changes) during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in appreciating life more and feeling stronger personally.
• Improvements in relationships with others were associated with lower risk of suicidal thoughts among healthcare workers.
• Promoting post-traumatic growth, especially in relationship skills, may help protect healthcare workers’ mental health during crises.

Understanding Post-Traumatic Growth

When we think about the effects of traumatic events like the COVID-19 pandemic, we often focus on the negative impacts - things like anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, research shows that some people also experience positive psychological changes after going through difficult experiences. This phenomenon is called post-traumatic growth.

Post-traumatic growth can involve:

• Greater appreciation of life
• Improved relationships with others
• Feeling stronger as a person
• Spiritual growth
• Finding new possibilities in life

It’s important to understand that post-traumatic growth doesn’t mean the trauma wasn’t distressing or that the person didn’t struggle. Rather, it refers to positive changes that can occur alongside or as a result of working through a difficult experience.

The Study: Post-Traumatic Growth in Italian Healthcare Workers

Researchers in Italy conducted a survey of 931 healthcare workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They wanted to explore:

1. How common post-traumatic growth was among healthcare workers
2. Whether post-traumatic growth was related to lower risk of suicidal thoughts

The healthcare workers completed questionnaires measuring:

• Post-traumatic growth
• PTSD symptoms
• Suicidal thoughts
• Demographics and pandemic-related experiences

Key Findings on Post-Traumatic Growth

The study found that many healthcare workers experienced aspects of post-traumatic growth during the pandemic:

• 79.6% reported greater appreciation of life
• 76.9% felt increased personal strength
• 69.0% saw improvements in relationships with others
• 65.5% identified new possibilities in life
• 41.0% experienced spiritual changes

Interestingly, healthcare workers who screened positive for PTSD symptoms actually scored higher on some aspects of post-traumatic growth compared to those without PTSD symptoms. This included greater appreciation of life, spiritual change, and seeing new possibilities.

This finding supports the idea that post-traumatic growth and PTSD are separate outcomes that can occur simultaneously after trauma. Experiencing distress doesn’t prevent someone from also finding meaning or positive change through their struggles.

Post-Traumatic Growth and Suicide Risk

About 10.8% of the healthcare workers surveyed reported having thoughts of suicide. The researchers looked at whether any aspects of post-traumatic growth were associated with lower suicide risk.

They found that improvements in relationships with others was linked to significantly lower odds of having suicidal thoughts. This was true even after accounting for other risk factors.

Specifically, healthcare workers who reported moderate to high growth in their relationships had 54% lower odds of experiencing suicidal thoughts compared to those with low growth in this area.

Why Relationship Growth May Be Protective

There are a few reasons why improvements in relationships might help reduce suicide risk:

1. Social connection: Feeling more connected to others can combat loneliness, which is a major risk factor for suicidal thoughts.

2. Support system: Stronger relationships may mean a person has more people to turn to for support during difficult times.

3. Sense of belonging: Improved relationships can increase feelings of belonging, which protects against suicidal thoughts.

4. Meaning and purpose: Connections with others often provide a sense of meaning in life, which can be protective.

Implications for Supporting Healthcare Workers

These findings suggest that promoting post-traumatic growth, especially in relationship skills, could be a valuable way to support healthcare workers’ mental health during crises. Some potential strategies include:

• Providing opportunities for healthcare workers to connect and share experiences with peers
• Teaching communication and relationship-building skills
• Encouraging workers to reflect on how the crisis has impacted their relationships and values
• Offering support groups or mentoring programs
• Creating a workplace culture that values connection and mutual support

It’s important to note that post-traumatic growth doesn’t happen automatically - it often requires active processing of the traumatic experience. Mental health professionals can play a key role in guiding this process.

Limitations and Future Research

This study provides valuable insights, but it does have some limitations:

• It relied on self-reported data at one point in time. Long-term follow-up would be helpful to see how post-traumatic growth changes over time.

• The study didn’t assess whether participants were receiving mental health treatment, which could influence the results.

• It focused on healthcare workers in Italy during the first wave of the pandemic. Results may differ in other populations or stages of the crisis.

Future research could:

• Track post-traumatic growth and mental health outcomes in healthcare workers over time
• Test interventions to promote post-traumatic growth and see if they reduce suicide risk
• Explore how post-traumatic growth interacts with other protective factors for mental health

Conclusions

• Many healthcare workers experienced aspects of post-traumatic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, even alongside PTSD symptoms.
• Improvements in relationships were associated with lower risk of suicidal thoughts.
• Promoting post-traumatic growth, especially in relationship skills, may be a promising way to support healthcare workers’ mental health during crises.
• More research is needed on how to effectively foster post-traumatic growth and its long-term impacts.