COVID-19 Stress Management with Virtual Doctor Consultation and Tele-mental Healthcare

Coronavirus has led the world to change, and brought us in the middle of a worldwide pandemic with unprecedented shifts observed in work culture and stay at home policies. Social distancing, work from home has made not only working professionals stressed but dependent children and senior citizens as well. Frequent complaints include neck and back pain, muscle cramps, and irregular sleeping habits.

The rising uncertainty has added to the anxiety as we do not know how COVID-19 will affect jobs, our health, and most importantly our well-being.

How to Manage Coronavirus Stress with WFH?

In absence of a tested vaccine for the pandemic, the global response to mitigate the risk of infection is a self-isolation strategy for those who are infected or are at a high-risk cohort, suffering from existing comorbidities like renal disease, cardiovascular disease or asthma.

While social distancing might achieve desired results, it may also lead to lesser in-person communication, degrading social support systems worsening anxiety, and depressive symptoms.

We often ignore the stress, anxiety, and uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic which may leave us socially withdrawn. If left untreated, these psychological symptoms may impact the long-term causing serious mental damage. If you thought it is only us who are at risk then think again, medical and emergency professionals are at a much higher risk of psychological distress with long work hours and risk of virus infectivity. This may cause stress, burnout, and depressive symptoms among them affecting the overall medical services delivery.

As a preventive measure to calm the mind and reduce stress, the use of virtual consultation and tele-mental healthcare has catapulted across geographies. Virtual consultation in simple words translates to speaking with a registered medical practitioner over the phone or video call. Telemedicine doctor has become critical during the current pandemic, especially as most of the cities are in lockdown and there is a widespread feeling of fear, increased levels of stress and anxiety.

Why you should consider a Tele-mental appointment?

Virtual consultation is delivered either on the phone or over a video to the patient at the comfort of their homes, substantially reducing the fear of Coronavirus exposure from the clinics where several infected people may be present. Telemedicine consultation also reduces the risk of infectivity which may arise travelling from the home to a doctor’s clinic.

Discussing with a healthcare expert over a virtual consultation will help you to relax and calm down in this uncertain time. Here are quick reasons why you should consider a Tele-mental appointment with your digital doctor-

You can consult a digital doctor without any geographical boundaries, on Gigadocs, a smart practice management app helping you to consult a virtual doctor at a time convenient to you.
Several studies have shown that Tele-mental appointments when used for remote patient monitoring show positive outcomes especially for counseling, psychotherapy, and chronic conditions.
Tele-mental health is effective to reduce stress-related pain, depression, and anxiety when compared to face-to-face encounters.

Virtual consultation can be availed through text messaging, phone calls or video consultation on the Gigadocs app, based on the different stress factors as tabulated below-

Mental Health Conditions	Prescriptive Tele-mental Healthcare Consultation
Depression, Stress, Anxiety, Anger, Grief	Text Messaging, Phone calls, Video Conferencing Virtual Doctor Consultation
Bipolar disorder, Suicide tendencies, and Self-harm, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Phone call, Video Conferencing, and Online self-help platform
Emotional problems	Online self-help platform, Phone call, Video Conferencing Virtual Doctor Consultation

Digital Doctor and Tele-Mental Healthcare

Tele-mental healthcare is valuable to support those who are stressed and anxious irrespective of their geographical location. During COVID-19, Tele-medicine doctors must use digital communication methods like e-mail, text messaging, social media communication extensively to share information about stress symptoms like cramps, burnout, anxiety, social isolation, and depression.

Tele-mental healthcare goes a long way to offer cognitive and relaxation skills which are helpful to deal with minor stress-related symptoms. For those with seasonal illness, or with COVID-19 symptoms, telemedicine can be used for remote monitoring and help with medical support whenever needed.

Reaching Digital Doctors for your Tele-mental Virtual Consultation

While we all practice stringent social distancing measures, reaching out to a tele-mental healthcare professional can help us to fight stress, mood-swings during these testing times. Follow the following steps to book a tele-mental healthcare specialist on the Gigadocs app-

Ensure you have a stable internet connection for booking an appointment and consulting with your doctor over a video call.
Check the availability of digital doctors convenient to your time.
Choose to book an appointment with your doctor based on their availability.
Give your digital doctor the consent to view your electronic health records and vitals.
Book a digital appointment, according to your convenient time and date.
Once you have made the digital appointment, Gigadocs will share the appointment details and a reminder on the Gigadocs app.
If your doctor is not available on the specified date due to any medical emergencies, you can consult doctors available online from a dedicated team of medical professionals registered on the Gigadocs app.

About Gigadocs-

Gigadocs helps you to manage the complete healthcare of your family, with customized health record maintenance solutions suited to your requirements. Gigadocs helps you with E-Healthcare solutions like-

Virtual appointment booking to consult a digital doctor.
Securely managing and digitally storing your family’s health records.
Facilitating digital prescription facilities.
Helping you to update and store your vitals regularly, to share with your digital doctor on a live consultation.

To download Gigadocs app-

IOS App – apple.co/2W2iG4V
Android App – bit.ly/33AQoRC

To know more and schedule a demo, e-mail, at info@gigadocs.com

The increasing number of mortality rates associated with COVID-19 is a cause to despair, at the same time, we should not undermine the COVID-19 impact on our mental health for the short and the long term. Tele-mental healthcare is a virtual consultation facility suited to fighting the pandemic, without risking yourself the exposure to infectivity.