May is Mental Health Month: How a life in quarantine is affecting our mental well-being

HARLEM VALLEY — May is Mental Health Month, and never has the state of one’s mental health been as precarious as now, in the midst of a global health pandemic that’s killed more than 288,200 (as of press time on Tuesday, May 12). 

Stress, anxiety and worry are at an all-time high, as society exists in quarantine in an attempt to quell the spread of the coronavirus. People are concerned with how to stay healthy; with how to keep their families safe; with how to pay for food, rent, the mortgage and all of their other bills while not earning a paycheck; with how to continue educating their children while schools are closed; with how to safely buy groceries, prescriptions and other necessities; with how to work efficiently and effectively, if so lucky as to still have a job, remotely from home; with how to access regular medical care without becoming infected with COVID-19; with how to get tested for the virus to learn if they are or were infected; with how to navigate relationships with those who are now always around, be it a spouse, a child, a parent, a sibling or a pet; and, of course, with the possibility that they or those they love, might die. The stressful scenarios affiliated with self-isolation in the days of the coronavirus truly seem to be never ending. 

As COVID-19 has crept its way across the globe, the country, the state and the county, so has worry and fear. According to Mental Health America (MHA), “For the general public, the mental health effects of COVID-19 are as important to address as are the physical health effects.” According to MHA, one in five people already have a mental health condition, and now one in two are at risk of developing one.

Since the outbreak, MHA has been monitoring the increase in anxiety daily. 

“According to our screening data, we experienced a 19% increase in screening for clinical anxiety in the first weeks of February, and a 12% increase in the first two weeks of March.”

To help, MHA has compiled a range of resources and information that can be found at www.mhanational.org/covid19.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo addressed the severity of the issue at his May 1 press conference.

“This COVID crisis has caused significant disruption and many unintended consequences and ancillary issues that have developed, and one of them is when you have people who are put in this situation immediately with no notice, it has caused serious mental health issues,” said the governor. “You have anxiety, depression, insomnia, loneliness, that feeling of isolation. We’re seeing the use of drugs go up. We’re seeing the use of alcohol consumption go up. This is a chronic problem. If you are feeling these issues, you are not alone. As a matter of fact, half of all Americans have said that their mental health has been negatively impacted.”

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Mid-Hudson agrees, and offers helpful advice for those who are distressed, at www.namimidhudson.org. While it notes that the NAMI Mid-Hudson staff is working remotely at this time, it posted COVID-19 resources and information for those needing assistance to stay mentally stable and well at this time.

Tips on staying calm

To ease anxiety, NAMI Mid-Hudson suggests people: remember that knowledge is power, and that learning the facts about how to stay healthy can allay fears about catching the virus; not to accept everything they read or hear, but obtain news from reliable sources and not just from the rumor mill; and to get their emotional support system in place by having friends and family to talk to on the phone or virtually, if they can’t visit in person.

Those who may be feeling depressed or anxious or otherwise unstable may also participate in virtual therapy, available through so many sources these days. One example? Starting May 1, NAMI Mid-Hudson resumed its Family Support Groups via Zoom. Many psychologists and psychiatrists are also practicing virtually, and charging on a sliding scale or even waiving fees for clients without health insurance at this time. 

Dr. Paul Gunser is a licensed psychologist with a second home in Millerton. His main office is in Yonkers, Westchester County, and he has privileges at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers. Gunser said he’d like to move his practice to Millerton, if he could find the right office space. But these days, of course, rather than looking for an office, he’s been dealing with patients struggling to get through the pandemic. 

At the current time, he said, all of his sessions are being done virtually. Telemedicine, he said, has come a long way.

“That’s how my patients reach me, including my hospitalized patients,” said the doctor. “I won’t go into hospitals, because I’m at high risk myself.”

That so many people are at high risk has been weighing on Gunser’s mind, as has the knowledge that the at-risk population is extremely fearful of not making it through this health crisis alive. He’s most concerned about the frontline workers in the health care industry. That’s why Gunser is offering free virtual 15-minute stress management training to first responders and health care providers.

“I felt there was a need,” he said. “They are so stressed out; they see not only patients dying, which sounds sort of cold, but they’re a little more accustomed to it if people are critically ill, but it’s the quantity of patients who are dying. Even young people… a 5 year old girl was on the news that I heard about. I thought it would be the elderly; I fall into that category, but really it’s a full range of ages.”

Witnessing death — over and over again — even when trained for it, can eat at the soul, said Gunser. And then health care workers have to deal with such pragmatic concerns like staying healthy and sane themselves, so they can simply do their jobs.

“First responders and health care professionals are in direct contact with patients who are ill with the COVID-19 virus and they can more easily succumb to it,” he said. “So they’re observing their own colleagues getting ill, and worse, dying, to try to help patients. It’s creating a lot of stress.”

Cuomo echoed those concerns when he spoke about the issue, and the state’s decision to have insurers waive certain fees for frontline workers to access mental health care.

“This is a terribly stressful, difficult time, especially for the frontline workers, and we want them to know that we not only appreciate what they are doing, but we are there to support them, right?” he said. “Saying ‘thank you’ is nice. Acting in gratitude is even nicer. We have a special emotional support hotline for our essential workers. And we are also going to direct all insurers to waive any cost-sharing, co-pay deductibles for mental health services for essential workers, which means the mental health services will be free for frontline workers.”

New York state is partnering with the Kate Spade New York Foundation and the Crisis Text Line to provide 24/7 emotional support for frontline health care workers; they can text NYFRONTLINE to 741-741 to access the services. 

Staying connected

Like NAMI Mid-Hudson, Dr. Gunser recommends people stay in contact with those close to them at this time — even if not physically.

“There’s some consideration of social distancing, even if you’re outdoors, but you can still communicate with others. Why not?” he said. “If indoors, phone your friends, your relatives. My partner is up in the mountains, in my house upstate right now, while I’m down here. We stay in constant communication, and I call my friends.

“If you’re fortunate enough to have family with you, play games. Board games are becoming popular again. Some people are becoming very creative, inventing games,” he added, noting family time is one of the bright spots to be found in the current crisis. “Families are spending more time together, particularly if there are younger children; to a certain degree there is stress involved with that but there is also pleasure with that… It’s amazing what people are doing to keep themselves occupied, active.”

Aside from the fear of succumbing to the virus, Gunser said practical concerns like finances are weighing on people’s minds.

“The hardest part?” he asked. “For one thing, economics, finances. People are suffering dramatically in terms of not having the income they were accustomed to… I suspect it may have some long-term impacts.”

But he added there are ways to deal with the stress, in addition to seeking therapy.

“Very definitely,” he said, “stay healthy in terms of proper nutrition: Eat well and exercise. Physical activity is crucial.”

To make a virtual appointment with Dr. Gunser, call 914-263-9023. To contact NAMI Mid-Hudson, call 845-206-9892  or  email  contact@namimidhudson.org, or call the national NAMI HelpLine at 800-950-NAMI (6264) Monday through Friday, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., for mental health resources. To contact the New York State Office of Mental Health hotline, call 844-863-9314. For those in dire need of immediate help, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 800-273-8255.

“People shouldn’t be shy in any way or have any second thoughts about calling for help,” said Cuomo. “It is a pervasive problem, and people should make a call and get the help if they need the help.”

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