FOR nearly two years, the lives of people across the globe have been drastically affected in a number of ways by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Community Guidance Center Acting Director And Treatment & Recovery Clinical Supervisor Joe Kevin Villagomez and clinical psychologist Dr. Glenda George on Friday touched on the effects that the pandemic has had on community members’ mental well-being.
“There are some members in the community that are going through some stressful and anxious moments during this time of the year, maybe relating not just to Covid-19, but some of them have lost loved ones in the past year [or their] children may be off to college and can’t come home because of the current situation. We’re reaching out to those people that could be having issues with stressful situations and anxiety,” Villagomez said.
“This is a very trying time for all of us, and it put some strain on our own mental health. We want to make sure that people do not increase alcohol intake or drug use because of the stress and anxiety moments in their lives and reach out for help because help is there.”
Dr. George, for her part, said, “With this pandemic, more than ever, we’re faced with challenges and these challenges are actually evolving day-by-day. Our circumstances are changing and with that, there’s uncertainty. I think that for us, what’s most important is that we can adapt to the changes, we can adjust ourselves…. That means adjusting your behaviors and your mindset. We have to take a look at what’s happening around us and how do we live our lives as fully as possible to continue to have the quality of life that you enjoy and you value with your loved ones. But, with that in mind, you’re still thinking about protection of yourself, protection of the people that you love around you. We can still come out of this as a resilient community that knows how to judge and gauge the situation.”
Dr. George added, “I do also want to share [that] there’s help out there for people who need the help…. We are, as a community, resilient. We’ve proven that we can overcome. When a difficult situation arises, think about what you have done in the past. What helped you get out of it? What were the healthy things that helped you get out of it? Was it reaching out to a loved one for support, talking about your feelings? Even something as simple as that can…have a really great impact on your well-being. Each of us is very different. We deal with challenges and situations very differently, so think about you as an individual. What works for you? How have you dealt with things in the past? From there, you’ll come out of it. When you’re not able to, you have people here ready and willing to help you get through this and support you.”
For mental health services on the local level, call the CGC at 323-6560.
“We will be here to assist you and we will have those numbers answered by people even on weekends at night, just for us to be able to take care of some of the needs,” Villagomez said.
For more information, visit https://chcc.gov.mp/behavioralhealth.php
