Nurturing your mental health during a pandemic
Certain COVID-19-related words such as social distancing, pandemic, and quarantine are enough to make anyone feel anxious. While maintaining a distance from others helps mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, it does take a certain toll on our mental health. Luckily technology presents possible solutions for those of us who are battling with depression and anxiety.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has surveyed upwards of 5,000 American adults and has found that symptoms for anxiety and depression skyrocketed between April and June this year. The number quadrupled, as approximately four times the amount of people have reported that they are depressed in 2020 compared to 2019.
From the population surveyed, almost 10% claimed that they seriously considered suicide over the past 30 days, and ¼ of young people aged 18-24 admitted the same. With this survey indicating that 40% of US adults are struggling with mental health conditions or substance abuse, researchers wondered if certain factors such as unemployment, lack of school structure, isolation, and other financial concerns were key stressors amid the pandemic.
CDC offers telehealth as a practical and effective means of treatment for COVID-19 mental health conditions. Earlier in March, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that it will be expanding what Medicare would pay for regarding virtual visits. Patients will have more access to e-visits after payment for doctors, clinical psychologists and licensed clinical workers have been approved.
Not everyone is comfortable with visiting a doctor for their mental health. Mobile apps offer practical and convenient methods that are applied in face to face therapy.
Take Sanvello as an example. Sanvello now has more than three million people using their app for peer support, self-care, therapy, and coaching. The app offers daily mood tracking, coping tools to manage stress, anxiety and depression, along with guided journeys. You can speak directly to a coach that is trained in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or even join a live video group class. A study from the Oregon Health and Science University has found that adults aged over 60 that used video chat applications had almost half the risk of depression. In the survey, researchers found that using texting and social media showed little effects in boosting spirits. However Skype and FaceTime seemed to be better tools for alleviating depressive symptoms and uplifting one’s mental health.