Psychological distress and resilience in first responders and health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our findings provide evidence that health care workers and first responders showed lower levels of psychological distress than the general population during the first period of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. This may indicate that playing a critical role in society during an episode of crisis, and acting to help others, may be protective of one's own mental health.The research also provides an optimistic view of the psychological resilience of critical first responders and health care workers during a period early on in the COVID-19 pandemic (June-July 2020). This highlights the benefits of fostering resilience in those working within high-risk first responder and health care occupations.