The COVID-19 pandemic is a healthcare crisis that has led to unprecedented impact on healthcare services. At the heart of the unparalleled crisis, doctors face several challenges in treating patients with COVID-19. The psychological burden and overall wellness of healthcare workers (HCWs) have received heightened awareness, with research continuing to show high rates of burnout, psychological stress, and suicide. Detrimental effects include high rates of infection and death, excessive financial hardships, stress related to known and particularly unknown information, and fear of uncertainty regarding continued impact. Some researchers focused specifically on COVID-19's impact on HCW sleep. Anxiety and stress were significantly increased, leading to negative impacts on both self-efficacy and sleep. Stress is an important factor in drug use. Efforts should be made to explore the factors that are associated with psychological distress, which may lead to symptoms of anxiety, depression, or provoke suicidal ideation, and efforts should be made to control the factors that are modifiable. There needs to be more awareness among doctors and further long-term studies focusing on their mental health as adverse mental health conditions will further affect them as the disease advances.

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Background:There are very few Indian studies regarding the psychiatric evaluation of state government workers referred for psychiatric fitness for work.Aim:This study aimed to examine the reasons for referral, psychiatric diagnosis, and outcome of psychiatric referrals for fitness for work at a tertiary-level referral government hospital.Materials and Methods:The study evaluated consecutive psychiatric referrals at a tertiary-level referral government hospital with their informed consent utilizing a specially prepared pro forma, Kuppuswamy's Socioeconomic Status Scale and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview plus. Psychiatric diagnoses were based on the International Classification of Diseases 10th Edition Diagnostic Criteria for Research.Results:The study included 67 male and 8 female psychiatric referrals with a mean age of 39.5 years. Most of the psychiatric referrals were married (82.6%), Hindu by religion (97.3%), from urban areas (80%), belonged to upper middle class (46.7%), and had rotating shifts or emergency duties (50%). Psychiatric referrals were usually made for a single reason (57%), most commonly absenteeism (84%) followed by undisciplined behavior (38%). A past history of disciplinary action taken against them was given by 56% of the referrals. The most common psychiatric diagnosis was psychoactive substance-use disorder (21.3%) followed by psychotic disorders (20%) and mood disorders (14.7%). No psychopathology was detected in 18.7% of the referrals. Most of the psychiatric referrals (68%) were fit for work, though 22.67% were declared unfit for work (permanent invalidation). Psychiatric referrals with multiple reasons for referrals, longer duration of psychiatric illness (>5 years), and diagnosis of organic mental disorder or psychotic disorder received invalidation (permanent unfitness) on psychiatric grounds.Conclusions:Psychiatric referral for fitness for work is most commonly for absenteeism. The most common psychiatric diagnosis was substance-use disorder followed by psychoses. The majority (68%) were found fit for work after treatment though 22.6% required invalidment from service.

Memory is the process of retaining of knowledge over a period for the function of affecting future actions. It can be divided into declarative and procedural types. The process of memory consolidation is done in the hippocampus. The long-term memories are spread among various areas of the cerebrum depending on the different perceptual properties. The process of long-term potentiation and molecular changes occurring during memory formation are discussed in detail below. The steps involved in memory formation include encoding, storage, and recall (retrieval) in that order. Amnesia is a phenomenon in which there is the problem in memory formation which can be due to trauma to the brain, certain diseases, or stressors. While the assessment of memory has greatly improved, we are only beginning to understand the underlying mechanisms.