Mental Health Challenges in the Time of COVID-19

Ronald L. Krannich, Ph.D.

Do you often feel anxious, depressed, stressed, frustrated, confused, lonely, afraid, angry, paranoid, worthless, and hopeless? Engaged in stinking thinking, worried about relationships, troubled about finances, feeling powerless? Drinking too much, gaining weight, abusing drugs, gambling, talking negatively, spending excessive time online, watching too much television, engaging in risky and self-destructive behaviors, having suicidal thoughts, feeling angry all the time? In this article, we’ll address mental health challenges in the time of COVID-19.

You’re Not Alone These Days

You’re not alone in the time of COVID-19. Such feelings, thinking, and behaviors have become the “new normal” for many people who have difficulty thinking about a positive and hopeful future. As prison inmates know all too well, being locked down for an extended period of time affects your mental health, rewires your thinking, and changes your behavior in many negative ways. If you’re used to living a life focused on purpose, meaning, love, and beauty, this pandemic experience may leave lasting scars on your mental health and behavior.

Reimagine Your Life

After months of being locked down and acquiring new and often dysfunctional habits, perhaps it’s time to reimagine your life with the help of key mental health resources. Indeed, mental health professionals report an upsurge in substance abuse and related disorders (domestic violence/abuse, anger, depression, suicide) during the coronavirus pandemic. Many therapists have now become teletherapists as they increasingly work with clients online. Not surprisingly, substance abuse/recovery centers should be in great demand once vaccines become available to ensure the safe face-to-face interactions of clients and professionals.

Even if we weren’t in such a lockdown situation — which forces us to do things we normally would not do — it’s always a good idea to reassess our mental health fitness, think outside the box, and hit a reset button concerning what’s really important in our lives. This may be the right time to rethink the purpose, meaning, and love – or lack thereof – in our lives. Indeed, this is a time to better manage what Bruce Feiler calls unexpected “lifequakes” – disruptive moments when life comes at you from many directions. Facing new transitions attendant with the many twists and turns of an increasingly nonlinear life, you are well advised to acquire new self-management skills for coping with an uncertain future.

Take Action, Now!

This is not a time to “wait and see” what happens. Indeed, it’s time to double-down on mental health resources and services to assist increasingly vulnerable populations. Impact Publications offers key resources for dealing with today’s substance abuse and mental health challenges. We’re especially pleased to offer the newly produced 5-video substance abuse series from the highly respected Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation: What You Need to Know. Also, check out these 9 additional resources:mental health challenges in the time of COVID-19

Also, check out our extensive collection of over 9,000 related resources at www.impactpublications.com and in our three catalogs designed for special military, ex-offender, and life skills audiences

mental health challenges in the time of COVID-19