Need for mental health services steadily on the rise as pandemic enters winter months
NEWPORT, R.I. (WLNE) – As the days get darker and colder, and the pandemic rages on, more and more people are struggling with mental health issues.
Newport Mental Health serves roughly 800 people in Newport County. Clinical therapist Chelsea Hooker said she’s seeing more and more people with worsening anxiety and depression
“Even this week, I’ve noticed people are a lot more stressed, have a lot more anxiety. Now that it’s getting darker out earlier, colder, people are going inside and everything, people are definitely more stressed and more anxious.”
Hooker said people are struggling while juggling working from home, schooling their children at home, and adjusting holiday plans amid the pandemic.
“It’s been a steady growth for sure of mental health need,” Hooker said. “It’s been steadily going up, and I predict, and my coworkers predict, that it’s going to kind of keep going as the winter moves on, and the holidays are always a really hard time for people anyway when the pandemic isn’t going on.”
As Rhode Island enters a “two-week pause” after Thanksgiving, many people will be even more isolated than they are now. Mental health experts work to get people suffering from depression out of the house, but with restrictions saying stay home, it puts people in a tricky spot.
“If people are depressed, they tend to isolate. So we have some people who have really worked so hard for so many years to not isolate and now we are telling them to isolate.”
Additionally, services like AA meetings and group therapy sessions have been moved online, which doesn’t have the same effect as in-person.
“People are losing those social supports. Us as humans, we’re social creatures, so it’s really difficult, even just not being able to see people’s body language on a normal basis, between virtual calls or maybe people don’t have access to the technology.”
Hooker recommends finding a coping mechanism like exercising, making a nest in your home, or journaling.
“One thing that really helps especially in this theme of Thanksgiving, just kind of writing down a list of what you’re grateful for.”
The state has rolled out a mental health campaign called Pause Rhode Island. The website has resources and numbers to call to get help for both adults and children.
Hooker said one of the best things you can do while feeling down is reaching out to people and know you’re not alone.
“You are not the only one who feels depressed, you are not the only one who feels like you’re alone or anxious about what is coming. Reach out to people as much as you can, and if you don’t have a strong support system, the mental health field and all of us workers in the state are here to help you.”
© WLNE-TV 2020
