With the order from Governor JB Pritzker now in full effect, Illinois residents have been mandated to stay in their homes for all but the most essential of trips, effectively quarantining 12.6 million in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Organizations like the McHenry County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and the Samaritan Counseling Center of the Northwest Suburbs (SCC), have been at the front lines in destigmatizing mental illnesses, and improving the lives of those afflicted by them, for decades.
However, with clients unable to attend support meetings due to potential coronavirus infection, representatives from these groups are urging different methods of staying calm and improving mental health that can be conducted from the safety of one’s own home.
“We believe the unknown is certainly challenging for our clients that are affected by depression or anxiety,” Alex Campbell, the NAMI McHenry executive director, said in an email interview.
He speculated that, the longer the virus lasts, the more it is going to take a toll on people’s mental well-being.
Campbell said, to date and of his knowledge, no one in NAMI had been exposed to the virus, and that despite the risk of infection, members of support groups had raised relatively few concerns.
“One support group had a pilot that traveled internationally, and the rest of group was acutely aware of the situation both for their own well-being as well as for the well-being of the pilot participant,” he said.
Campbell recommended staying indoors and using electronic methods of connecting with family and friends, such as phone calls and Skype messages, to stave off feelings of isolation. He also said NAMI staff would be available to talk to via phone conversations instead of in-person meetings.
“One activity to avoid [would be] reading, watching, and listening to too much news,” Brian McCallum, an intake coordinator and counselor for the SCC, said via email. “On the one hand, we want to be informed; on the other hand, we don’t want to be overwhelmed.”
He warned of information overload and misinformation that could pop up, and he recommended brief checks on the news a few times per day.
McCallum often collaborates with NAMI to provide clinical supervision, external consultation and staff training. Having previously worked for the Suicide Prevention Services nonprofit in Batavia, he was accustomed to supporting people who felt isolated, and said collective levels of anxiety and fear would be on the rise due to the coronavirus.
“A crisis features two prongs,” McCallum said. “One prong, of course, is danger. The other prong is opportunity. Use the opportunity to read, listen to music, write, draw, journal, work on a puzzle,” he recommended. “Do some light exercise such as walking and stretching. Call friends and loved ones. Pen an old-fashioned letter.”
He also pointed out various online sources, such as religious congregations that livestream their services, that would create a sense of community and normalcy during prolonged stays at home.
Above all, both Campbell and McCallum stressed that stress itself should be the last thing on peoples’ minds, and that staying calm and keeping occupied will be beneficial for anyone staying at home.
