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Governor Wolf’s most recent extension to the stay-at-home order is in effect through June this year, and many are forced to stay home and deal with mental health issues.
Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, we spoke with UPMC PinnacleHealth Psychological Associates Dr. Melissa Brown about ways to cope with and address the mental health issues many face due to these hard times.
We first asked Dr. Brown what is one of the most common problems people may face during this COVID-19 pandemic:
“Well, one of the biggest problems that I keep seeing from patients is anxiety,” says Dr. Brown. “… fear of the unknown is certainly something that fuels people’s anxiety.”
Then share tips you can use at home to help you deal with any mental health issues you may be experiencing:
“Take a couple of minutes and I’m not saying hours a day, but three or five minutes of signing up alone. How is it going right now where my stress levels are, how does it work? Do I feel overwhelmed and just take a couple of minutes to do that and do it? That’s great personal care.“
Then he ends with words of reassurance to the public, with ways they can continue to seek help during the pandemic.
“I always encourage people to go to the UPMC website. We have easy search engines that can certainly search us. UPMC Pinnacle Psychological Associates, we are working, we are available. We are taking new patients and you know, that’s a place to start. “
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