How is COVID-19 affecting your mental health?
ZANESVILLE, Ohio – With the Coronavirus pandemic causing a stay at home order , this may start to take a toll on your mental health.
CEO and President of Allwell Behavioral Services James McDonald says emotions like frustration, confusion, anxiety, depression, loneliness, guilt or anger can arise.
“People’s routines and their schedules have blown up and they don’t know how long this will last. It’s very difficult to plan in these uncertain times so there’s a lot of frustration and confusion around that. The second, and perhaps the most invasive emotion is anxiety. People are not sure whether they’ll get the disease, if their loved ones will get the disease. People are anxious about their income with layoffs and businesses closing.”
Mcdonald says guilt may be experienced by individuals who cannot help family during this period of time.
If you are beginning to feel any of these emotions, he recommends a steps:
- Take breaks
- Take care of your body
- Connect with others
- Find things to do
- Get help
“Stay positive. This is temporary even though we’re not sure exactly how long it’s going to last. We are trying to bend the curve so that in the next couple of weeks, or couple of months, the majority of this may be — we’ll be past that heavy wave and eventually it will slow down and life will return to normal. I think it’s an opportunity for people to get closer and to change the way we do things. We’ll be better at the end of this.”
If you think you may need professional help during this time, call a medical professional or the Allwell Talk Line at 1-800-344-5818.
