About The Book

Healthcare Workers Face Unprecedented Mental Health Struggles in the Wake of COVID-19. Why Cope When You Can Heal? Offers Them a Path to Recovery.

Have you ever wondered how healthcare heroes who are themselves traumatized by the horrors they’ve seen, worked, sacrificed and lived through during Covid-19 are going to recover from it?

COVID-19 has traumatized the world–and no group has been more impacted than frontline healthcare workers. They’ve worked without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), witnessed mass death, and been forced to make choices that haunt them. Many have fallen ill, while others have worried endlessly about their own health and that of their loved ones.

And even after months of battling this invisible enemy, no end is in sight.

Additionally, all of this is happening in the context of a divided nation, a struggling industry, and a “just get over it” culture that exacerbates the problems healthcare workers face, while minimizing their suffering. 

These factors have created the “perfect storm” for widespread stress, depression, anxiety, and hopelessness—and, increasingly, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

Bestselling author and PTSD expert Mark Goulston, MD and former hospital CEO Diana Hendel, PharmD have teamed up to create this guidebook to help healthcare workers navigate the trauma they have experienced and continue to face. Why Cope When You Can Heal? is an essential resource for doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other healthcare professionals who have been deeply impacted by COVID-19—as well as leaders seeking guidance to help their teams process their experiences.

In this book the authors take an empathetic, informed approach that helps people begin the healing process from the inside out. They offer guidance to help you navigate traumatic stress and PTSD, find solutions for healing, and reconnect to the joys and rewards of your career and life. Here are just a few things you’ll learn:

• The many ways COVID-19 has impacted (and continues to impact) healthcare workers on a mental, emotional, and physical level
• Real-world account and experiences from frontline workers
• How past events like SARS, and current studies of healthcare workers in China, foreshadow widespread PTSD in the future
• The “12 Phases” Emotional Algorithm that leads to PTSD following a trauma, and how understanding it holds the keys to healing
• Common Signs and Symptoms of PTSD
• Why victims of traumatic stress and PTSD tend to avoid therapy—and how to gently encourage them to get help.
• An overview of treatment options.
• Powerful exercises, tools, and tips that you can use today
• Why the healthcare industry must end the stigma around PTSD and other mental health issues in its workers
• Practical advice on how healthcare professionals and leaders can act to reduce traumatic stress and PTSD, support those who suffer from it, and guide the industry as we move forward in a healthier new direction.
• And much more

This book is a must-read for every healthcare professional.

The authors constantly come back to a reassuring message: COVID-19 is powerful, but so are you. You have been through something brutal and challenging, but good mental health is still within reach. You don’t have to cope and suffer any longer. It’s time to start your healing journey today.