May has been Mental Health Awareness Month. I’m glad—in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place and anxiety-inducing news coverage—that we are provided the opportunity to stop and think about mental health. Ours and others’.
These days have brought both new challenges to emotional wellness and new opportunities for help and support. Online, virtual therapy is increasingly becoming a standard practice. Our social media feeds are full of articles on how to cope with anxiety, loneliness and isolation. We are encouraged to reach out to each other and participate in Zoom community. All are good, new approaches to helping each of us stay mentally healthy.
As I have said a zillion times, the new experiences you and I may be having with anxiety, loneliness and isolation are lifelong experiences for members of The Well. However, few are able to access the new online resources. Their lifeline is still found in belonging to The Well. Coming by for carry-out lunches and essential hygiene items helps to keep them on sure footing. Chats with staff and each other (six feet apart!) provide the kind of connections that helps to keep them mentally stable and emotionally optimistic.
I am thankful for the new resources available to so many of us that help us stay the course through this health crisis. And I am thankful that, because of donors and volunteers, The Well continues to provide resources that our members can continue to depend on.