Social isolation during a pandemic can save lives.
But the community’s distancing measures that will hopefully slow the spread of the coronavirus can have massive unseen side effects on mental health.
“Human beings are social animals,” said Jolene Kron, clinical director at Salish Behavioral Health, an organization that provides behavioral health services in the Salish region, which includes Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap counties.
“Recent events magnify feelings of depression and anxiety,” she said in an email response to questions from The Leader. “Individuals are experiencing fear, uncertainty and loss in a more profound manner. It then becomes more challenging to manage with limitations on support systems.”
While the coronavirus is a physical health crisis, it is also contributing to mental health issues in individuals by exacerbating stress due to loss of jobs, disruption of normal routines and the overwhelming amount of information to process.
“We are in a time where stress is experienced across many domains of people’s lives to include social, financial, spiritual, recreational, etc.,” Kron said. “The experience or repeated observation of the traumatic events (deaths, isolation) can create traumatic stress reactions in anyone. These traumatic reactions are magnified by isolation and uncertainty.”
In addition to the stress of changed routines and social isolation, there is a global grief for the many lives lost during the pandemic—whether they were personal losses or just general feelings of loss.
“It is very possible to experience grief related to loss of lives, even those of people we do not know personally,” Kron said. “There is also the experience of grief related to loss of direct contact with friends and family, loss of routine and activities that lend to individuals mental health and loss of jobs or other activities that bring meaning to people’s lives.”
These mental health effects could be longer lasting than the pandemic itself.
“Many individuals in our community, state and country will be managing the traumatic aftermath of this pandemic for weeks, months or even years,” Kron said.
But the best way to combat this is by maintaining as much contact with support systems as possible. This could mean personal support systems, such as friends and family who can be reached by phone, email, text or video chat during social distancing.
“Any opportunity to have visual connections in those interactions has the most benefit to participants,” Kron said. “Engaging in non-pandemic-related conversation, game play and recreational activities of any kind are beneficial to all parties.”
People should also engage in activities they enjoy and are still able to do, such as gardening, going on walks or reading books. Maintaining routine activities such as cooking dinner at a regular time or having a weekly phone call with a colleague or friend is important, as well as getting enough sleep and exercise.
It is also important to maintain access to mental health support systems, of which there are many in Jefferson County.
“All of the behavioral health providers in the Salish Region are providing services and support via telehealth and telephone,” Kron said. “Agencies have been creative in making sure services are available and are accepting new patients.”
Agencies such as Discovery Behavioral Healthcare and Dove House Advocacy Services offer support via telephone and video calls.
Both are available to call during office hours and reach an advocate or mental health professional to talk and help direct you to the appropriate services.
Crisis services are also available 24/7 through Volunteers of America at 800-584-3578; a Discovery Behavioral Healthcare designated crisis responder will be dispatched when appropriate.
Jumping Mouse Children Services has a list of services available for kids, such as free lunch pick-ups, at-home educational help and more on its website. And Port Townsend Family Therapy offers an online parent support group on a weekly basis.
The Port Townsend non-profit, The Benji Project, also offers twice weekly one-hour online sessions for middle and high school-aged teens.
Trained teachers share stress relief, connection and coping practices at no cost to teens or families.
The drop-in teen sessions are on Tuesdays from 7-8 p.m. and Thursdays from 4-5 p.m. through a secure Zoom online meeting. To learn more or join a session, visit: www.thebenjiproject.org.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness has also compiled a list of tips and resources for dealing with mental health during the coronavirus pandemic, which can be found at NAMI.org/covid-19-guide.
Below are some tips from NAMI’s guide for maintaining mental health during a pandemic.
Learn from accurate sources:
Look beyond rhetoric for information. Go to the CDC, the State Department of Health or the Jefferson County Public Health department websites for accurate information on COVID-19’s spread, severity, the number of cases and the best prevention techniques.
Stop the spread of rumors. Visit the CDC’s website to learn the facts and differentiate from the fiction.
Get a support system in place:
Stay connected with others and maintain your social networks.
Have emails and phone numbers of close friends and family at your fingertips.
Stay connected via email, social media, video conference sand telephone calls. Maybe even write someone a letter or postcard.
Find a free online support group through groups such as NAMI, Emotionsanonymous.org or Support Group Central.
Working from home? Start a routine:
To help overcome uncertainty, make a routine that mirrors life’s daily patterns and practices. If working from home, create a structured, dedicated work environment and build in self-care, as well as daily benchmarks of achievement.
Dressing in regular work attire and taking regular breaks, including lunch time, can also be helpful.
Be mindful of opportunities to integrate video into conversations with colleagues. Consider using the video function on Skype or Teams for internal and external meetings.
