News

March 30, 2020

Fears about the coronavirus pandemic and being socially isolated can significantly affect mental health.  Whether you have a mental illness or are just feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed, it’s important to do what you can to support yourself and get help with you need it.

Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations, but taking care of yourself, your friends, and your family can help you cope. Here are some general tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Alliance on Mental Illness:

• Take care of your body. Critical self-care activities are sleep, physical exercise and a healthy diet.  Avoid alcohol and drugs.
• Be mindful of your news consumption. Take breaks from watching, reading or listening to news stories, including social media.  And, limit your sources to one or two reliable sources, like the CDC or Marin Public Health.
• Find things to do. Do activities that you enjoy or that are distracting. Music, movies, gardening, art, journaling and cleaning are all great outlets.
• Connect with or help others. Talk with people you trust about your well-being.  You can chat via phone or video.  Finding a way to help others might make you feel better.

Staying emotionally connected as a community even if we temporarily become more physically isolated is critical to everyone’s mental health. Online and phone support is available through the National Distress Helpline, a free service to connect with a trained crisis counselor (available in English and Spanish).

• Phone: 1-800-985-5990 
• Text “TalkWithUs” to 66746 (English)
• Text “Hablanos” al 66746 (español)
• TTY (for hard of hearing): 1-800-846-8517

Additional phone support options and self-care resources are available on the Marin Health & Human Services Behavioral Health and Recovery Services webpage.