Mental Health Week – May 4-10, 2020
This week is Mental Health Week in Canada.
We’ve all spent the past several weeks in crisis management mode, reeling from changes coming faster than we can process. Now we’re moving into the next phase of this pandemic, and working out what that is. What that looks like for our industry, and the way we live our lives, is uncertain, and uncertainty is hard to manage, even at the best of times. A recent survey [http://angusreid.org/covid19-mental-health/] shows half of Canadians feel their mental health has suffered in recent weeks.
It’s okay to not be at your best in the middle of all this. Actually, it’s to be expected.
Calltime Mental Health has created a Coping with COVID-19 web page. It includes union Member and Employee Assistance Program information as well as links to publicly available resources. [https://www.calltimementalhealth.com/coping-with-covid19]
More than ever, we need each other, even at a distance. Calltime Mental Health is calling on our community to reach out and connect with one another in our Calltime Connect initiative. Call or text that friend or co-worker you haven’t talked to in too long. Make a habit of reaching out to a different person every day. Not to solve problems, not to give advice. Just to connect, human to human. To say hello and how are you, and trade stories of how we’re all getting through this bewildering time, together. Apart but not alone. Distant but connected.
And if you’re struggling with anxiety of feeling overwhelmed, reach out for help. We’ll get through this, together.