You're listening to Well Now, Slate's podcast on health and wellness.

I'm Maya Feller.

And I'm Kavita Patel.

Today we're diving into a crucial topic that's been on the minds of many in the healthcare community,

but not often talked about, the mental health of our health care workers.

Maya, have you ever been asked, are you okay at work?

And you say yes when you really aren't.

Kavita 100%.

Usually my default answer is, I'm great.

Everything's fine.

And even worse, I am known to show up at work at all costs, regardless of what is going on with me

physically or emotionally. I mean, I have worked through some of the most traumatic things that

have happened in my life without batting an eye. What about you, Kavita? Oh, the same. I think it's

all very clear that when anyone asks, are you okay, they might as

well be saying, you know, the sky is blue, sure, you know, that you've got two feet, yes, because that's

exactly what the answers are, almost reflexively. Well, we've all heard the phrase, put your own

oxygen mask on first, but for many in the health care field, self-care often takes a backseat to patient care.

The mental health care crisis amongst health care workers has been brewing for years, decades,

but the COVID-19 pandemic really brought it to the forefront.

A recent study found that nearly half of health care workers reported feeling burned out often,

or very often in 2022. That's a study from the CDC. recent study found that nearly half of health care workers reported feeling burned out often,

or very often in 2022. That's a study from the CDC. That's up from just under a third four years earlier. So think about it. Third of health care workers in 2018 saying they were burned out

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