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By Tiffany Goodwein

Experts provide advice on how to stay mentally healthy during lockdown

Dec 11, 2020 | 6:04 PM

With the province set to go through another lockdown on Sunday experts say it can take a toll on one’s mental health, but there are ways to stay mentally healthy.

Joyce Achtnig is a registered psychologist and clinical director of the Alberta Counselling Centre in Calgary.

She says, that while the lockdown may seem difficult, with the closure of fitness centres, and a ban on all indoor social gatherings there are ways to stay mentally and physically strong through it all.

Her first tip is to maintain your network of supports.

“ There’s many ways to do that, to do Facetime or Zoom calls with family and friends, and just making sure you are doing that on a consistent basis because it is so important to keep you grounded and make people feel like they are not alone,” she said.

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That advice to reach out to friends and family virtually especially as we enter the holiday season is shared by Clinical Social Worker Violet Pergel of Medicine Hat, who added says its important to set a routine and be kind to yourself and others.

“It’s important to have things to do, like set yourself a goal or two to accomplish in a day. Take up a hobby, you know a project that you have been leaving for the last 40 years, those kinds of things because when we stay active, and we can in our home,” Pergel said.

Pergel also recommends looking for online groups to help foster a sense of community while under lockdown.

“ Say you want to knit and you want to knit with other people. I’m sure there’s a zoom meeting for that. So you can be sitting in your own home and actually at the same time be conversing with other people, taking a course online. There are a lot of courses out there and sometimes people use these times to learn a new skill,” she said.

The experts also suggest limiting the amount of media you consume in a day to reduce stress and anxiety. She said although it is important to stay informed, it is equally important to watch how much you are turning to social media, and the news.

Limiting media consumption is especially important for young children, because it may spike their anxiety, something they are already seeing at their clinic.

“ Children are quite anxious about what is happening and they look to the adults to guide them so we have to make sure that we are limiting that, because another thing is not everything out there that kids and adults are consuming is accurate,” she said.

Achtnig suggests watching Dr Deena Hinshaw’s media briefings if you are looking to stay informed, stating the Hinshaw does a good job in displaying the information in an accurate and balanced way.

Instead of consuming so much media, Achtnig, recommends taking up activities that you find enjoyable, such as hobbies that you can do around the house.

And with the holidays, both experts agree that kindness to yourself and others is key.

“ With the holidays coming up, it’s important to express some self-compassion and be realistic. We are all in this together, and we have never done a pandemic before, we have never done Christmas in a pandemic before, and I think we have to give our children some credit too because they are really quite resilient, and they know what is happening and their expectations I think are a little bit different this year,” Achtnig said.

Mental health support is available online and in person. A link to supports in the community can be found here.

If you or someone you know is in crisis resources are available. In the case of an emergency dial 9-1-1. The Alberta Mental Health Help Line can be reached at 1-877-3030-2642. The Kids Help Phone can be reached at 1-800-668-6868.