lorna breen felt unattainable. after overcoming covid-19, she ultimately took her own life by suicide. dr. lorna breen was a hero who devoted her entire life to caring for others. putting others before herself. and while her tragic death cannot be reversed, it should serve as a warning signal about the broader impact this virus. in recent poll by the kaiser family foundation, nearly half of americans reported that the coronavirus is having a negative impact on their mental health one half. that is up from one third. it was in march. in the number of text to the federal disaster distress outline, skyrocketed in april. more than a thousand percent increase. as we continue to discuss what future coronavirus legislation could look like, we cannot ignore the mental health impact. nationwide, we rely on the community mental health centers and community behavioral health organizations to support those battling mental health and substance abuse disorders. but his need for the services has increased, resources have actually

ijust finished the zoom memorial service for a colleague — dr lorna breen.fe. you know, her family says that it was related to the stress of coronavirus, and that really hurt. in addition, the head nurse that i think i mentioned in one of my previous diaries passed away last week as well. a nurse manager that i know also passed away. and an intensivist downstate, where i trained, also passed away. so last week really, for me, was the worst week of this. it really did feel like a war. and any other event you would stop, you would mourn, you would be with people. tough week. i hope next week's a little bit better. by early may, hospitals are finally starting to see fewer admissions and fewer deaths. and new york is beginning to ease lockdown restrictions. it has been a crisis, and a painful one. but we're coming out of the other side. christina's coronavirus test was negative but she and her daughter chloe have returned to missouri. i will talk to you guys tomorrow. nancy is about to head back to maryland to see her daughter and mum. and derek is continuing in

toll on america's mental health last week emergency room doctor released devastating news doctor lorna breen in the trenches battling this virus for weeks working long hours as many are to tell the family the devastation she was seeing every day and contracted covid-19 and took a week and a half off to recover and then went back to work eager to help her she could. shortly after her family intervened and brought her home to virginia to rest to spend a little time withim her family. sadly, tragically what she was facing felt untenable after overcoming covid-19 c-1 she took her own life by suicide. a hero devoting her entire life to care for others and put others before herself with the tragic death cannot be reversed it should be a warning signal about the virusr impact of the with the kaiser family foundation nearly half of americans that the coronavirus is having a negative impact that's up to one third in march and the number of the distressed outline skyrocketed in april 1000 percent increase and to discuss what future legislation will looke, like in the mental health impact we rely on th

lorna breen hero fund to bring mental support to health care providers.ate snow, nbc news. >> such a heart wrenching story. >>> we're back in 60 seconds with richard engel and surprising news in the race for a vaccine. >>> in the search for solutions tonight, the mayor drug company partnering with oxford university to make a potential vaccine aiming to get it done much faster. here is richard engel. >> reporter: in a major show of confidence, one of the world's top drug companies today announced its pushing ahead to produce millions of doses of a trial coronavirus vaccine even before the research is complete. >> i'm going to have a vaccine that can be available to the public on an emergency use basis but the end of the year. >> reporter: and how many of these emergency vaccines do you want to have ready by the end of the year >> at this stage, we have a goal to produce up to 100 million doses by the end of the year, and from there and go beyond this next year. >> reporter: the company is betting big, making the vaccine developed by the u.k.'s oxford unive

lorna breen took her own life recently.onnelly worries about the emotional well being of his recovering firefighters. >> to take this job you have to feel a little invincible. when things go wrong. your mind says i'm having problems with this. that those are chings in the armor that can weaken the system. >> donnelly and other firs responders acknowledge there are professional stigmas associated with firefighters, er doctors and others who need help for anxiety and depression. some actually are punished for seeking that help even before this pandemic, er doctors were at higher risk for suicide and advocates on average before the pandemic, suicide killed more firefighters each year than actual fires. >> these first responders are real heroes and we're grateful to them. thanks for that report. more news just ahead. okay... okay! safe drivers save 40%!!! guys! guys! check it out. safe drivers save 40%!!! safe drivers save 40%! safe drivers save 40%!!! that's safe drivers save 40%. it is, that's safe drivers save 40%. - he's ri

lorna breen who subsequently saved lives and subsequently committed suicide. is obviously having major health effects, mental health specifically. dr. harstene, have you seen an increase in many of these issues among front line workers? and how are they dealing with them? >> you know, there is an increase we're seeing. we're noticing that, you know, calls to suicide hot lines are up, call toes crisis hot lines are up, so it's not just front line workers. across the board, we're feeling a global stress. put yourself in a doctor, emt, firefighter position where er dealing with this stress and trauma firsthand. and i think we believe that we need a mental health diagnosis to die by suicide or have depression or anxiety. and the truth is, the mere presence of the stress and the trauma every day over and over with the risk of your own health, at the risk of your family's health, all of these things is enough in and of itself to create an increase in depression, to create a increase in hopelessness, an increase in fear, that it could lead to some of these things. so

. >> lorna breen was an e.r. doctor who took her own life last sunday evening.he medical director of the emergency department at new york presbyterian allen hospital. she contracted and recovered from covid-19, but her family says she never recovered from the stress she experienced treating others. >> she had 12-hour shifts. and when she finished, she said i can't leave. nobody's leaving. i have to stay and help. and i kept telling my sister, you know, you can't -- if you can't function, you can't help anybody. you have to sleep. you have to rest. she didn't want to give up. she would not give up. she would not let it break her which, of course, it did. >> joining us now is dr. wendy dean, the co-founder of moral injury of health care. she has served as an e.r. doctor and a psychiatrist. welcome. >> thank you very much for having me. >> clarify that term in your group's name, moral injury. what is moral injury? >> so moral injury is when a physician or another health care provider, a clinician, knows what their patient needs and is unable to get it to them becau

lorna breen who died by suicide and that was the worst examples of the trauma the people are feeling. is there any other advice, practical advice you can give on a daily basis to those on the front line working 12 hour shifts? she spoke to her sister feeling she couldn't leave after 12 hours, others were still working and that she had to stay. >> right. the well-being of workers is definitely being stressed, not only in light of the fact that they're working very hard but described by folks which is social isolation, anxiety, changes in one's home, fear of uncertainty. so we created a collaborative with other programs, a large work force going to the floors where folks are working to meet their needs, just to know they're there. we have mental health liaisons, chaplains around the hospitals now, letting people know there are services. we developed a lot of services already, beginning with meeting basic needs to meeting psychological needs, all sorts of things. we started this a few months ago. this program is going to be very much focusing on letting people know that there's no stigma

lorna breen was the medical director of the emergency department at new york-presbyterian allen hospitalut had been staying with her family in virginia at the time of her death. she herself had contracted the coronavirus and had to leave her position to recover from the illness. her family blames her job for her death. her father in an interview, she described harrowing scenes from the hospital. said, "make sure she's praised as a hero, because she was," her father, dr. philip breen, said in an interview, adding, "she's a casualty just as much as anyone else who has died." andrew solomon, can you comment on her death and the pressure that health care professionals are facing right now? you refer to this saying, we're used to dealing with sick peoeoe and sing tererrible t things too talklking about doctors and nurses, but what is devastating with covid is the sheer volume. it is likeke drinking fromom a poisonous fire hydrant." >> well, i think the first thing to say is that she was a hero and thatat we shouould all be breathless with admimiration for somemebody who is wiwillintoto k so h

lorna breen was an emergency physician. john mondello was an emergency medical technician.your message to health care workers who might be having suicidal ideation right now because of how overwhelmed they feel and how they're confronted with this horror day in and day out? >> there is no shame in speaking out. i hope that the communities of health care providers can encourage each other to speak out. they're undergoing trauma, they're undergoing stress. it's almost like being in a war in certain ways. as a culture, much as we say support our troops and then we don't necessarily fund their mental health services, we also have to do the same here. think about what it means to support our health care providers. it means give them resources, give them the ability to say i feel traumatized, i feel like i can't cope. and for them to be able to avail themselves of the resources out there. there are suicide hot lines, they're seeing an increase over this time. we also have a suicide crisis in this country even pre-pandemic. rates have been rising for the past two decades in the un

doctor lorna breen who had just recovered from coronavirus took her own life recently.lly worries about the emotional well-being of his recovery firefighters to take this job to do this job you have to feel a little invincible when. >>things go wrong. your mind says i'm having problems with this that doesn't change sunny armor that can weaken the system. brian todd, cnn. >>and don't forget we have always got the very latest coronavirus related stories on our website at kron 4 dot com. as you can see the latest from orange county a up on the web site right now we just mentioned that a moment ago again updated minute by minute with the latest information you need to get through the you need to get through the (alarm ringing) wake up to great tasting flavor. (alarm stops) belvita breakfast biscuits. flavors like delicious blueberry or decadent chocolate, gently baked in a tasty biscuit. (alarm ringing) belvita breakfast biscuits. it's time to taste the day. and your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. myabbvie assist has been providing free abbvie medicines to qualifying