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. 

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).

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

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: