Things are at an all-time high stress currently and I’m sure you feel it too! Between things closing left and right, all of the rapid changes that people can’t keep up with, people’s financial stresses,  and the actual COVID-19 virus itself; there’s a lot of anxiety and stress happening in the world. Instead of looking for ways to cope and soothe yourself or each other, it seems as if the majority of us are just barely coping instead of finding peace amongst COVID-19. While some of the things we are facing right now seem out of our control, it can sometimes help to focus on what we CAN control, and that would be finding our inner peace!

At The Mental Wellness Center Inc, we want to help the youfind not only peace but so much more. We want to help you find joy and comfort and serenity. The first thing that we are doing is that some of our staff are still offering in-person therapy. That is, of course at their personal discretion. Others of our staff who have more health issues have already gone to telehealth 100%.  Which means they will be offering therapy over the computer or the telephone. Part of our mission is helping you to find peace amongst COVID-19 and making sure that you have access to your mental health needs, no matter what they are. For some people, they prefer the comfort and routine of wanting to come in and experience the safety of having therapy in the physical presence of the therapy office. Other people would prefer to have the safety of not leaving their home and just hopping on the phone or the computer to soothe their anxiety, depression or trauma issues. Maintaining or even seeking mental health services during times of great crisis is absolutely crucial to your mental wellness.

We want to help you calm yourself and find peace right now, and quite honestly all the time, but let’s focus on right now. Some of the ways in which you can decrease your stress and decrease your anxiety include:

1. Ensure You Are Getting Quality Sleep: Your body needs a certain amount of rest in order to heal. It needs a certain amount of sleep in order to rejuvenate and relax. Even if you aren’t getting good sleep, making sure you are at least resting and relaxing is absolutely crucial. 

2. Monitor Caffeine Consumption: Caffeine is a stimulant which oftentimes increases anxiety and stress in many people. While people attempt to use caffeine to decrease their stress and angst, it unknowingly and subtly increases those things in your body. It also, many times, creates sleep disturbances which further increases the stress you are carrying.

3. Increase Laughter: I understand how difficult it can be to find things to laugh about during this pandemic. However, part of finding peace amongst COVID-19 is focusing on intentional laughter. Spend some time on YouTube and watch some babies laughing, animals playing, your favorite comedy show, anything that makes you belly laugh. Laughing relieves your stress response and relieves tension by relaxing your muscles. Note that you may not feel like laughing every day, and that’s ok. Consider this a gentle nudge to remind yourself that you deserve to find ways to relieve your stress.

Wherever you are at with your stress level, know that you don’t have to handle this alone. We, at The Mental Wellness Center, are here for you and willing to help you find peace during this stressful time. For a look at our providers please read more here: https://www.thementalwellnesscenter.com/providers