2021 Volume 33 Issue 4 Pages 387-393
The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced many aspects of our society and medical situation. The managers of our hospital in Kyoto, Japan suddenly converted our psychiatric ward to a COVID-19 ward in March of 2020. We transferred or discharged all inpatients against their and our will. We renovated our wards within just a week, for example, setting and separating booths in terms of whether we should wear PPEs or not, removing facilities (sofas, trash cans etc.). All psychiatric nurses had to work in the same ward and to practice wearing on/off PPEs. After a few months, our ward has restarted as a psychiatric ward, and some beds are available now for COVID-19 patients. We treated some patients with COVID-19 and severe mental illness (schizophrenia or dementia) who were not able to stay in their room because of their cognitive functions and comprehensions. This report is a narrative record of our experiences with COVID-19 in our department dealing with our emotions and feelings of stigma for mental health and ourselves, to share our experiences. We would like all readers to take a glance at psychiatry, which is often put on the back burner during the COVID-19 pandemic.
