Mental Health Crisis Line: 988

 

The U.S. is in the midst of a mental health crisis. Suicide rates have skyrocketed, teens and adults spend weeks in the E.R. waiting for inpatient beds, and there is a drastic shortage of mental health professionals. The COVID pandemic has caused a mental health crisis due to lost routines and isolation causing an increase in anxiety, depression, PTSD, insomnia, and emotional distress. The pandemic has also caused issues with unemployment, food insecurities, and housing problems which lead to undue stress that can exacerbate mental health symptoms. 

Starting on July 16 2022, people experiencing mental health crises can dial 988 to connect with mental health professionals. According to SAMHSA, 988 is “not just an easy to remember number -it’s a direct connection to compassionate, accessible care and support for anyone experiencing mental health related distress.” 988 can also be dialed by people worried about their loved one who may need crisis support.

Compared to other lifeline numbers, 988 is easy to remember and will be expanded to provide support via call, text, or chat by connecting people to community-based providers such as mobile crisis teams, stabilization centers, and mental health care providers. “The Lifeline provides free and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or mental health related distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the U.S.”

The goal of 988 is to create a nationwide crisis standard of care where people experiencing a mental health, suicidal, or substance use crisis can have someone to talk to, someone to respond, and somewhere to go. By providing a 24/7 crisis call center answered by local well trained staff the crisis call center can connect people to local services, including dispatching mobile crisis teams and connecting people to crisis stabilization programs. The mobile crisis teams would work to de-escalate crisis situations and only include police as co-responders in high risk situations. The crisis stabilization programs would provide added short term stabilization support and provide a warm hand off to follow up care such as peer support, outpatient services, or more intensive services such as hospitalization. 

 

References: 

https://www.nami.org/Advocacy/Crisis-Intervention/988-Reimagining-Crisis-Response

https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/988

 

Ways to Stay Well

By Bernie L, Crystal B, Yaniz S

Bernie says:

“One way I stay well with my mental health is staying connected with my friends and support system. I like to do some kind of physical activity to stay healthy like hiking trails and walking; something to keep me out of the house. It has been difficult to go out because of the pandemic because a lot of places where I could meet people face to face were closed. It wasn't always possible to stay connected but zoom calls helped stay in touch.”

The World Health Organization recommends ways to take care of your mental health such as:

1. Talk to someone you trust. If you openly share how you are feeling with someone who cares about you it may help you feel better. Staying connected with friends via phone, video calls, or messaging is important when meeting face to face is not possible.

2. Look after your physical health. Taking care of your physical health such as eating a healthy diet, staying active, and getting enough sleep can help you maintain your mental health and well-being. 

3. Do activities that you enjoy. Try to continue doing the activities that you find meaningful and enjoyable because having a regular routine of things that make you happy will help you maintain your mental health. Some of these activities include cooking, meditation, going for a walk, playing with a pet, watching TV, etc.

4. Steer away from harmful substances. Don’t use harmful substances such as drugs, alcohol or tobacco to cope with what you’re feeling. Though these may seem to help you feel better in the short term, they can make you feel worse in the long run.

5. Seek professional help. If you can’t cope with the stress that you are feeling, seek professional help by calling your healthcare provider.

Remember you are not alone, and there are things you can do to support your emotional wellbeing.

Crystal reminds us:

“Take care of your health first! Taking care of your health comes before everything else; before you take the next steps in your life goals your health comes first.”

Bernie concludes:

“Seeking a community that provides a safe environment to express how you are feeling is very important for your mental health and wellbeing.”

References:

WHO Ways to Take Care of your Mental Health and Wellbeing 

How to Cope When Feeling Upset

 By Kenna R, John W, Desmond C, Jeffery C, Yaniz

An article by Toketumu in Very Well Mind Blog describes anger as:

“Anger is an intense emotion you feel when something has gone wrong or someone has wronged you. It is typically characterized by feelings of stress, frustration, and irritation. Everyone feels anger from time to time. It's a perfectly normal response to frustrating or difficult situations. Anger only becomes a problem when it's excessively displayed and begins to affect your daily functioning and the way you relate with people.”

 

Kenna R. says:

“When I feel upset, I like to walk away and take time out to myself. It’s okay to speak your mind on how you are feeling but it's the way that you talk to people that is important. When you’re upset you can voice your feelings in a respectful manner, take a break and meditate, then go back towards your day to finish your tasks. These steps make me feel a lot better when I'm feeling upset.” - Kenna R.

 

Desmond C. says:

“When I'm feeling upset I like to count from 1 to 10 while taking deep breaths. I also pray and read Psalms when I'm upset as it helps me calm my anger by focusing on my faith. My faith helps me cope with all sorts of emotions and feelings.”

 

Jeffery C. says:

“To cope with anger or when I’m upset, I usually try not to let the situation overwhelm me by getting information about the cause of my anger. If it's a person and I have yelled at them, I apologize. If it's a situation or thing that's making me angry, I speak to someone regarding how they handled the same situation. I end up thinking about my anger or what’s upsetting me until it no longer bothers me.”

The Mayo Clinic suggests ten tips to cope with anger:

1. Think before you speak. Don't say something you might regret. Take time to collect your thoughts before saying anything.

2. Once you're calm, express your concerns. State your concerns and needs clearly and directly, without hurting others or controlling them.

3. Get some exercise. Physical activity can help reduce stress and calm anger like taking a walk or running.

4. Take a timeout. Give yourself a break to help you cope with the day's stress.

5. Identify possible solutions. Instead of focusing on what made you mad, work on resolving the issue at hand.

6. Stick with I statements. Criticizing or placing blame might only increase tension when describing a problem use “I” instead of ‘you’ statements 

7. Don't hold a grudge. Forgiving someone who angered you might help you both learn from the situation and strengthen your relationship.

8. Use humor to release tension. Lightening up can help diffuse tension, but try not to use sarcasm as it can hurt feelings and make things worse.

9. Practice relaxation skills. Practice deep breathing exercises, meditation, or listen to music to relax.

10.  Know when to seek help. Learning to control anger can be challenging at times. Seek help for anger issues if your anger seems out of control. 

Reference:

What is Anger?

10 Tips to tame your temper

Coping with Grief

By Antonio, Jeffery C., Yaniz

What is Grief?
Grief is a natural response to loss which can affect your emotional, mental, and physical health. Grief can cause you to feel a range of difficult and unexpected emotions but it is a natural reaction to loss. The more significant the loss, the more intense your grief will be as everyone has a different way of dealing with grief. Grief can be caused by a variety of life events such as: divorce and relationship break up, loss of health, losing a job, loss of financial stability, death of a loved one such as a family or friend, death of a pet, a loved one s serious illness, loss of a friendship, loss of safety after a trauma, and catastrophic event such as a natural disaster.
Whatever your loss, it's personal to you, so don't feel ashamed about how you feel, or believe that it s somehow only appropriate to grieve for certain things.

The Grieving Process:
How you grieve depends on many factors such as your personality and coping skills, your life experience, your spiritual beliefs, and how significant the loss was to you. Inevitably, the grieving process takes time and happens gradually, and there is no normal timetable for grieving. There are many myths about the grieving process such as how long it should take, whether crying is appropriate or not, whether moving on is forgetting about the loss, and that the pain will go away faster if you ignore it. Whatever the cause of your grief, what is true is, there are healthy ways to cope with the pain of loss as you move through the stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. But you probably won't experience the stages of grief in a certain order, nor do you have to go through all of them to heal.

Symptoms of Grief:
While loss affects people in different ways, many of us experience the following symptoms when grieving.
Emotional Symptoms: Shock and disbelief, sadness, guilt, fear and worries, anger and resentment.
Physical symptoms: Fatigue, nausea, lowered immunity, weight loss or gain, aches and pains, insomnia

Coping with Grief:

1. Basic Self-Care: take care of your physical health such as eating regularly, hydrating yourself, and healthy activities that you enjoy.
2. Be Gentle: Let go of the timeline and allow the feelings to ebb and flow during your healing process.
3. Be informed: Basic grief education will help you understand what to expect in your grief journey. Being informed can help you prepare for the physical and emotional symptoms.
4. Express Yourself: Allow yourself to talk about the loss and open up to others about how you are feeling.
5. Stay Connected: Spending time around and communicating with others is vital.
6. Seek Outside Help: Dealing with grief is a unique and complicated experience so it can help to have a therapist or counselor and outside support to process your loss.
7. Acknowledge and Remember: With family members and friends acknowledge the loss and share memories and support each other.

How to Help Someone Grieve?

1. Be Present and Accepting: Simply being there for a family or friend and accepting their pace through the grieving process is a supportive action. A big help!
2. Listen: Before giving unsolicited advice, listen without judgment or an agenda. Let the griever talk and process their loss without worrying about your reactions or opinions.
3. Be Respectful But Proactive: Help the griever in small ways recognizing that they may be overwhelmed. For example, doing household chores, sending meals, encouragement, etc.
4. Validate Their Experience: Make the grieving process about them without judgements on how they are coping with the loss.
5. Stay Connected: Be supportive no matter the timeline of the person s grief or where they are in the grieving process.
6. Be Supportive of Remembering: Participate in the cultural or spiritual activities associated with honoring the loss especially during holidays, birthdays, or the anniversary of the loss.

Takeaways

• Grief and loss are a natural but challenging part of life.
• There's a wide range of mind-body experiences when you're dealing with grief.
• Learning how to grieve is an ongoing process rather than a singular event.
• Grief can impact mind-body health and you should seek support for complicated grief.

References:

Dealing with grief: 13 tips to get through a big loss - Healthaid (lemonaidhealth.com)

Coping with Grief and Loss - HelpGuide.org