Health and wellness — both physical and mental — is being tested all over the world and in your own home right now. Keeping everyone (yourself included) watered, fed and rested, as well as stable and cared for emotionally and behaviorally with no breaks for playdates, school, or in-person therapy is a challenge. Though we are all facing this challenge together, it can feel very isolating.
- If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, contact Suicide Prevention Lifeline.org.
- To contact the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline, a 24-hour, 365 day-a-year, toll-free, multilingual, and confidential line to connect with a trained crisis counselor, call 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746.
- To contact Children’s Regional Crisis Response (CR2), a 24-hour multilingual no-cost rapid response line for youth 17 and younger facing a mental health and/or substance use crisis, call 844-N-CRISIS or 571-364-7390.
- To contact the NAMI Helpline, a free, nationwide peer-support service providing information, resource referrals and support to people living with a mental health conditions, their family members and caregivers, and the public, please call 800-950-NAMI (6264), Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., ET, or send an email to info@nami.org.
Health and Wellness Resources for Arlingtonians
Arlington Public Schools has information on coping with stress and how to talk to kids about this pandemic, and contacts for school counselors (scroll down for info by school).
NAMI has shared wonderful ideas and coping mechanisms, as well as a trustworthy list of sites to check.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers ways for individuals, parents, responders and people released from quarantine to cope with the pandemic.
- Reducing stress in yourself and others
- Information for parents
- Information for responders
- Information for people released from quarantine
12-Week Mind Matters Online Series
- The Dibble Institute is offering this free series to help you develop skills and coping mechanisms to overcome anxiety and build resilience.
Virginia Commonwealth University offers great tips and resources for maintaining wellness that are simple, supportive, and can apply to everyone.
How to Develop and Practice Self-Regulation
- Very Well Mind provides practical strategies and information for building resilience through self-regulation.
Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations During COVID-19 Outbreak
- The World Health Organization provides specific tips and resources for the general population, people in isolation, health care workers, team leaders and managers, care providers for children, and care providers for older adults.
Resources for Practicing Self-Care and Resilience
Living Gratefully in the Time of Coronavirus
- The Daily Good provides strategies for integrating gratefulness into your daily practices to build greater capacity to face what is challenging.
Care for your Coronavirus Anxiety Toolkit
- This is your mental health toolkit during this time. The team at Shine, in partnership with Mental Health America, has vetted and compiled a wealth of research-backed and helpful tools for you—articles, meditations, access to mental health experts, anxiety screenings and more.
Daily Mindfulness Meditation Workshops
- Mindful Junkie and @breathr have partnered to deliver free, daily LIVE Mindful Meditation Moments. The meditations are streamed LIVE twice a day at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern Time for 5 – 10 mins. Ways to join: Zoom, Instagram & Facebook – follow @breathr_vr and @mindfuljunkie.
Mindfulness Drop-In Zoom Class
- Christopher Downing will teach a daily Mindfulness Class from 12 – 12:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. These classes are free and a great opportunity, so feel free to drop-in to try it out.
How to Care for Yourself While Physically Distancing
- Mental Health First Aid offers these easy self-care strategies that can help reduce feelings of depression and anxiety, or prevent anxiety before it even starts, while practicing physical distancing. Use these tips from the MHFA curriculum to take care of your mental health while practicing physical distancing.
How To Practice Resilience At-Home Handouts for kids and adults
- Greater Richmond SCAN created these two colorful handouts which include 20 creative ways to build resilience, including links to external resources.
- Popular apps for easing anxiety and practicing mindfulness. Both offer free trials and free basic packages.
- A smartphone app designed to help support individuals in recovery from substance use disorder and is scientifically proven to support patients in recovery by reducing relapse and promoting pro-social engagement.
- Developed by psychologists and educators, this app offers a wide variety of programs for all ages. Particularly if you feel anxious about the coronavirus or your kids feel stressed about disruptions to their everyday normal lives, this is an app that will have solutions for the whole family. The entire app is free!
Parenting/Caregiver Guides to help support kids through the COVID-19 Crisis
Parent Support in Challenging Times
- Arlington DHS-CFSD invites you to check out a series of online presentations to help parents and caregivers support children (and themselves!) in ever-changing family life.
Has COVID-19 Put Children at Risk in Their Homes?
- Families are finding themselves facing many of the risk factors for child abuse and neglect. Learn more about how you can ensure that children grow up in a supportive, stable and nurturing environment.
A Parenting Guide During COVID-19: Be Kind to Yourself
- Tips for caregivers on how to Survive Telecommuting and Homeschooling.
How You and Your Kids Can De-Stress During Coronavirus
- Tools for caregivers to help them calm their stress response when it isn’t helping. These tools can be used in this or any other situation.
Countering COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Stigma and Racism: Tips for Parents and Caregivers
- People who identify as Asian American or Pacific Islander are currently being subjected to racism related to the COVID-19 virus. This resource provides tips for parents and caregivers on how to inform children in a developmentally appropriate manner that the disease is linked to a geographic location and not to a race or nationality.
Talking to Kids About the Coronavirus
- Kids worry more when they’re kept in the dark. Here’s what to say.
Supporting Kids Through the COVID-19 Crisis
- Tips for nurturing and protecting children at home.
Anxious Stomach Aches and Headaches
- Anxiety in children sometimes manifest physically. Here’s what to watch for.
How to Help Children Manage Fears
- Tips for teaching children how to build resilience and learn to calm themselves down, even when things feel scary.
- Go-to techniques for coaxing anxiety-prone children out of their fears from a mom who’s been there.
How to Avoid Passing Anxiety on to Your Kids
- Help yourself, and them, by learning techniques to manage stress in a healthy way.
How Anxiety Leads to Disruptive Behavior
- Kids who are acting out, melting down or being defiant may actually be seriously anxious.
What to Do (and Not Do) When Children Are Anxious
- How to respect their feelings without empowering their fears.
- How a meditation practice can help kids (and parents) feel less anxious and more relaxed.
Young Children at Home during the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Importance of Self-Care
- Why it’s important for parents and caregivers to practice self-care and what you can do to make sure you are physically, emotionally and mentally capable of being there for our young children.
Stronger Together peer support groups
- In response to the COVID-19 emergency, Formed Families Forward will be hosting their regular Stronger Together peer groups for youth and young adults age 14-22, and for parent and caregivers VIRTUALLY next week. Regular members of the groups have been sent the log-in information for our March 24, 6:30 – 8 p.m. group meetings. New participants can register on Eventbrite site HERE. Log in information will be sent to new registrants before 6 p.m. on March 24.
- This picture book by Songju Ma Daemicke and Helen H. Wu teaches kids how they and their families can do their part to be virus fighters.
Guides for Caregivers for Older Adults
Coronavirus (COVID-19): Tips for Dementia Caregivers
- Alzheimer’s Association provides tips for dementia caregivers at home and of individuals in assisted living.
Tips from Dementia Friends USA During COVID-19
- The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) provides Tips for Dementia Friends During COVID-19.
Coronavirus and COVID-19: Caregiving for the Elderly
- Johns Hopkins Medicine offers information about caregiving for the elderly during COVID-19.
Families Worry About Loved Ones in Nursing Homes, Assisted Living
- AARP provides options for those with loved ones in a long-term care setting (Nursing Homes and Assisted Living).
For Those Experiencing Emotional Distress
- Disaster Distress Helpline
- SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) offers a helpline for immediate crisis counseling for people who are experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster. For services in both English and Spanish, call 800.985.5990. To connect with a trained crisis counselor, text TalkWithUs (for English) or Hablanos (Spanish) to 66746.