ADAA Mental Health Blogs for the Public
I’ve heard from friends countless times that they have considered therapy, but their lives were just too busy for it. Maybe when they had more time, they’d say.
What better a time than now, when you’re safe at home 24/7, and likely anxious about the world’s current state?
A cancer diagnosis brings a wealth of psychological challenges. In fact, adults living with cancer have a six-time higher risk for psychological disability than those not living with cancer. Patients and families have to deal with not only the physical stress to their lives and potential livelihoods, but also with family dynamics and changes in their sense of self and future.
If you are like most families with young children, these past few weeks have been filled with playing simple games, such as who can run the fastest from one side of the room to the other, or who can accurately recite the alphabet backwards. When my children were young, their favorite game involved my hiding their stuffed animals in the house.
Experts suggest that the surge of COVID-19 patients is still coming for many hospitals in the United States and throughout the world. Health care workers on the frontline are waiting for a wave, a wave of unknown height and unknown force to hit the hospitals. In some areas that wave has already begun. Faced with harrowing tales from Italy and China, hospitals count supplies, teams shift staffing schedules, and providers fear the worst.
As many in the United States (US) stay home and practice social distancing to protect themselves from COVID-19, individuals from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds face heightened barriers and risks.
Coronavirus has turned our world upside down. Many businesses that typically require being present in person are shut down and unable to operate. Everyone is aware that in most places across the country right now, you can't do things like eat out at a restaurant or go to a nonessential doctor's appointment.