COVID-19 Resources
Information on how to cope with our current situation during the COVID-19 Pandemic:
Meeting Our Basic Needs First: Give and/or Receive Aid
It is difficult to meet our mental health needs when our basic needs are not being met or there are things that are threatening to get in the way of this. It is not uncommon to experience symptoms of anxiety, depression, fear, or loneliness when food insecurity gets in the way of meeting any of the needs above our physiological needs.
Applying for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits -- Maine DHHS is encouraging those who need assistance and may have been denied benefits in the past to reapply.
Maine Harvest Bucks -- Stretch your SNAP benefits even further.
FoodPantries.org -- A tool you can use to search for food pantries close to you.
National Hunger Hotline (Whyhunger.org) -- Why Hungry 1-800-5-HUNGRY
Maine Farm & Seafood Products Directory -- Maine farms, fisheries and other food producers that have adapted to the outbreak of COVID-19 by offering access to their products that is safe and allows for physical distancing. Note: many of these vendors will accept SNAP/EBT and/or Maine Harvest Bucks.
Quarantin.io -- This is a crowd-sourced map that gives reports on where you can find food staples locally that have been in short supply due to the pandemic. It’s new, so it doesn’t have a lot of data yet, but the more people use it, the more useful it will be. This was created by a Mainer!
Mutual Aid Disaster Relief -- This organization both provides aid and provides guides for people who want to start organizing and need some support to get started.
Auntbertha.com -- Great online tool to locate social services in your area, anywhere in the country.
Mainers Together -- Give or receive help across the state of Maine.
Maine 211 -- Get connected to Maine resources
Low food security is when the food you eat is lower-quality or isn’t very appealing, and you don't have many choices. But you typically get enough food.
Very low food security is when you can’t get food when you need to or you have to eat less because you don’t have money or other ways to get it.
FYI: People who have food insecurity may be more likely to be obese because they only have access to unhealthy food or they go through cycles of not having enough food, then overeating. Obesity can affect your physical and mental health as well as your social life. It’s linked to issues like asthma, depression, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Coping with Loneliness, Depression and Anxiety During the Pandemic
Things you can do:
1. Force yourself to connect - Do something you love to do, call a friend, or video chat.
2. Challenge automatic, negative thoughts - Acknowledge that thoughts feel factual but are based on faulty information because it is being filtered through a loneliness lens.
3. Take action - When the feeling starts or even after it has set in, do something. Make a plan of how you are going to start to get out of it and follow it. Enlist others to help you (this can be done virtually).
MEGA: A large collection of free resources like workbooks and books for navigating mental health.
Taking Care of Your Mental Health in the Face of Uncertainty
Here are three ways you can connect with your loved ones while safely quarantined at home:
• Netflix Party: https://www.netflixparty.com/
• House Party: https://houseparty.com/
• Free Zoom: https://zoom.us/
We want nothing more than for things to go back to 'normal' during this trying time. However, the present is our 'normal' for now and finding ways to set our own meaning can help us cope.
To choose your own meaning, pay attention to your thoughts and what they are telling you. Challenge yourself to choose a thought such as "I can make it through this" or "I can find ways to
cope or be successful." Notice how this thought impacts your feelings and then in turn how you act. Our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are all connected. Changing any one of these
can have an impact on the others.
Art Inspired by COVID-19 & Creativity as a Coping Mechanism
Covid Art Museum -- An Instagram account featuring new artwork inspired by our current crisis.
Existential & Trauma Concerns Raised by the Pandemic
It’s normal for big, existential questions to visit us during times of crisis. Our current shared crisis, the global pandemic of COVID-19, might trigger questions like “why is this happening?” and “what does this all mean for the future?”
If you’re asking yourself big questions like this, know this: YOU ARE NOT ALONE. It is human nature for us to ask these questions, especially when our world changes so quickly and forces us to change, too. There are many people experiencing existential dread right now. The good news is that humanity has faced catastrophe in the past and as a result, we have been gifted with some helpful guidance from existential thinkers and writers.
Here’s a book recommendation for some pandemic reading: Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl is Frankl’s firsthand account of surviving imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp, and what helped him through. This is a seminal existential read.
Crises offer us an opportunity for self-examination. Therapy is a great place to engage in self-reflection and the counselors at the wellness center can provide support, guidance and compassion to you as you navigate that process. Below is a list of issues/goals existential therapy can address:
Fear and acceptance of death
Self-awareness
Anxiety as a condition of living
Identity development (who am I and what really matters to me?)
Balancing freedom and independence with a sense of responsibility to others
A search for meaning in life