PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Crawford County Mental Health Center encourages anyone facing daily mental health challenges to connect with a local mental health center.
Today, Feb. 4, 2022, the Center released the following.
Pandemic Continues to Have Major Impact on Mental Health
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a major impact on our community and daily lives, Crawford County Mental Health Center is encouraging residents to seek out and connect with their local mental health center.
Both adults and children are facing daily challenges that can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause heavy emotions. Public health actions, such as social distancing, mask mandates, and quarantines can leave us feeling isolated and lonely with the burden of increased stress and anxiety. Heading into our second full winter of COVID-19, it is important that we all find ways to take care of our mental wellbeing in the coming months.
“As the pandemic lulls on in our communities, we continue to see individuals affected emotionally, socially and financially,” said Clinical Director, Amy Glines, LSCSW.
“Work stress continues for our health care providers, educators, and people making policy related decisions. Our friends and co-workers may also be coping with grief from loss of functioning. Taking time for mental health is extremely important to combat the negatives regarding our response to COVID-19,” Glines stated.
A recent article from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing highlights a handful of ways to learn how to manage you mental wellbeing during the pandemic in a healthy way:
- Take a media break. Consider taking breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including those on social media. Hearing about the pandemic constantly can be upsetting, especially given our constantly shifting news.
- Mind your physical health. Taking care of your body can also help take care of your mind. Are you taking time to exercise regularly? Are you eating nutritious meals or sleeping well? All of these things can have a positive impact on both your physical and mental wellbeing.
- Connect with others. You might want to try talking with family or friends ‒ sometimes the best way to look out for ourselves is to ask someone else how they’re doing. You can also find an activity that connects you with other people ‒ whether it’s something like board games, being active in a faith-based community or other community groups, playing video games online or joining a recreational sports league.
- Practice mindfulness. You can practice mindfulness quickly and easily throughout the day. Many people think meditation is something big or impossible to achieve. The reality is that by taking a few minutes periodically through the day to check on yourself and be present to your body and breath, you can dramatically improve your ability to let go of negative thoughts and emotions.
- Do something you enjoy. Do at least one pleasurable activity every day, like cooking, meeting with friends or going to the movies. It may help to journal in the morning or use a planner to help you feel centered and approach each day with something enjoyable to do in mind.
- Ask for help. Sometimes we may feel like we don’t want to burden others with our problems, but the longer we internalize our issues the more difficult they become to resolve.
Learning to manage your mental wellbeing in a healthy way and practicing self-care is important during these tough times. Finding ways to stay connected is vital, as is reaching out when we need assistance.
If you are noticing early warning signs of stress, please consider getting professional support.
Crawford County Mental Health Center offers services for children, adult, crisis, and substance abuse. Appointments are available in person or telehealth. Call 620-231-5130 to schedule an appointment or visit https://crawfordmentalhealth.org/ for more information.
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